ANC policies centred on socialism and communism benefited a few, destroyed the economy

I DISTRIBUTED pamphlets 25 years ago in Cape Town under the name of the Islamic Party, predicting that ANC socialism and communism would destroy the economy.

The chickens of these policies have come home to roost the past 10 years, and this process will accelerate.

The economy is contracting; the public sector is dysfunctional; public debt is spiralling out of control; many companies have gone bankrupt; unemployment will increase; and the economy will soon be downgraded to junk status.

A specific example of communism is the Mining Charter as a means of transforming the mining sector, which requires companies to have a minimum of 26% black shareholding.

There are many contradictions in this system. The first problem is selection. Are blacks just taken off the street? Or is there a lottery?

The most likely answer is that the friends and family of the ANC are chosen, and this makes it corrupt and unethical.

The second problem is benefit. Why should a few blacks benefit instead of the majority of blacks? Instead of a 26% black shareholding, convert this into a tax so that the tax revenue can be spent on social spending so that all blacks will benefit, instead of only a few.

So this is also unethical. But one can’t just increase the tax rate by 26%, since this may make the mines unprofitable for investors.

The overall tax rate should thus be fixed at an optimal rate, which will attract investment and employment, and thus generate new taxes for social spending.

And equitable taxes is the only acceptable and sustainable form of nationalisation.

Thus the current communist system is unsustainable and is heading for collapse, like we are seeing in Zimbabwe where there is hardly any food, fuel, electricity and currency.