Tripartite alliance says no to IMF virus support
The ANC-led tripartite alliance said it would form a task team to engage the government on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it ruled out approaching the IMF for assistance.
Nearly halfway into the national lockdown, the tripartite alliance, made up of the ANC, the SA Communist Party (SACP) and Cosatu, said it will make proposals to the government to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.
According to a statement released by the alliance secretariat and signed by ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, Cosatu general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali and SACP deputy general secretary Solly Mapaila, the new task force will make proposals to respond to the immediate, medium and longterm impact of the pandemic.
The team, which will be led by ANC deputy secretarygeneral Jessie Duarte and includes Enoch Godongwana, chair of the ANC’s subcommittee on economic transformation, together with members of the alliance secretariat, was announced on Monday.
Soon after saying that it would take up a $1bn loan from the New Development Bank on Sunday to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Treasury said it was still considering facilities offered by other multilateral organisations.
The World Bank and the IMF have established special Covid19 facilities, with the former offering SA $50m. The IMF has launched a $1-trillion facility to assist countries with liquidity, including dollar swap lines, as the crisis puts the global financial system under unprecedented pressure.
However, Treasury directorgeneral Dondo Mogajane said the government was still evaluating the need for World Bank assistance and did not require IMF assistance at this stage.
While the proposals by the tripartite alliance are yet to be made, going to the IMF was ruled out as an option, it said. It slammed finance minister Tito Mboweni’s suggestion that SA could approach the IMF for assistance, among others. “The suggestion is rejected. Instead, the [tripartite alliance] secretariat reaffirms the need to safeguard SA’s democratic national sovereignty, the fundamental right to self-determination, our independence, which are nonnegotiable, even in the midst of a crisis,” it said in the statement.
Instead, the secretariat called on the SA Reserve Bank to play a “vigorous developmental role” in turning around the economy. They said the government should evaluate and explore all sources of domestic finance, including private retirement funds, as well as policy instruments to tap into the resources in a mutually beneficial manner to turn SA around.
The proposals will include mitigating the effects of the pandemic as well as preparing the response for an economic turnaround, they said.
THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD EVALUATE AND EXPLORE ALL SOURCES OF DOMESTIC FINANCE, INCLUDING PRIVATE RETIREMENT FUNDS
The proposals would include infrastructure development and re-industrialisation, taking into account the need to foster sustainable methods of production and consumption to protect the environment and act against climate change.
In making the proposals, the statement said, the team will draw on inputs from “progressive social scientists”, including economists and policy development practitioners.
The secretariat also noted the proposals made last week by a group of Left-leaning economists, analysts and policy activists in an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa, saying it will critically engage those, as well as proposals made by the National Treasury.