Why we should undo Mandela s economic deals

I believe this list shows that the ANC leaders were not constrained in the 1990s by a desire for economic stability, but entered into a pact with Afrikaner nationalists and big business at a time their prior Moscow sponsors had given up the ghost. Structural considerations Consider also the structural dynamic then, and still, in play: capitalism s financialisation As manufacturing and mining declined, the share of finance in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) soared from 6% in 1994 to 13% by 2010.

Financial liberalisation gave South Africa the appearance of a healthy GDP growth of 5% per year just prior to the 2008 world crisis. Yet given the 1990s deals, this growth was largely froth.

It was whipped up by spending on the 2010 World Cup, by briberyinduced white elephant infrastructure and by the 2002-08 commodity price blip.

In addition, the early 2000s witnessed a consumer debt boom. But by 2008, soaring interest rates made repayment obligations difficult for 70% of borrowers. South Africa’s medium-term interest rates are the fourth highest among the world’s 57 main economies, lagging only Brazil, Turkey and Pakistan. Financial froth also included what

measured as the fastest-rising speculative real estate bubble on earth from 1997 to 2008.

The froth included insane valuations of the country’s stock market. By late 2015, the market value of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange was 320% higher than GDP, the Buffet Indicator. This was the highest recorded level of any major country’s modern stock exchange, with only Singapore (304%) and Switzerland (281%) close.

Add and stir South Africa’s world-

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