8
of exchange controls.
Borrowing $850-million from the International Monetary Fund in December 1993, with tough conditions persisting for years. These included rapid scrapping of import surcharges, state spending cuts, lower public sector salaries and a decrease in wages across the board.
Reappointing apartheid’s finance minister Derek Keys and Reserve Bank governor Chris Stals, who retained neoliberal policies.
Joining the World Trade Organisation on adverse terms, as a transitional”, not developing economy. This led to the destruction of many clothing, textiles, appliances and other labourintensive firms.
Lowering primary corporate taxes from 48% to 29% and maintaining countless white people and corporate privileges.
Privatising parts of the state, such as Telkom.
Relaxing exchange controls. This led to sustained outflows to rich people s overseas accounts, and raised interest rates to unprecedented levels.
Adopting the neoliberal macroeconomic policy Gea, which failed and caused developmental austerity.
Giving property rights dominance in the Constitution, thereby limiting its usefulness for redress.
Approving the demutualisation of the two mega-insurers Old Mutual and Sanlam. It was the privatisation of historic mutual wealth for current share owners.
Permitting most of South Africa’s 10 biggest companies to move their headquarters and primary listings abroad in the late 1990s. leading inequality, a poverty rate of 63% and an unemployment spike from 16% in 1994 to 26% by 1998 with a plateau since. What needs to be done Given the resulting damage, isn’t it time, finally, to honestly confront the dozen devils, and to discuss how to reverse the damage, by undoing the deals?
The ANC is notorious for talking left and walking right. Forced corporate repatriation is one issue. Others include lowering interest rates and, to stop capital flight, reimposing tougher exchange controls (as the Chinese did last week to slow outflows).
Then a genuine industrial policy could substitute for imports, rebalance the economy. Lower interest rates would also increase policy space to raise state social spending and reorient infrastructure to meet unmet basic needs.
But to adopt such obvious reforms would require not just rhetoric from a duplicitous, exhausted-nationalist regime, but a powerful democratic movement from below.
Bond is professor of political economy at the University of the Witwatersrand. Source: https://theconversation.com