EFF STATEMENT ON THE GOVERNMENT’S INCLUSIVE GROWTH ACTION PLAN

14 July, 2017

The Economic Freedom Fighters rejects the government’s inclusive growth plan pronounced by the Minister of Finance, Minister Malusi Gigaba today. The plan by the Minister is a clear indication that Zuma’s administration and the ANC have no full comprehension of the economic challenges facing South Africa. It is not a surprise that South Africa is in recession, downgraded to junk status and facing an unimaginable job loss crisis.

The purported ‘government’s inclusive growth action plan’ is nothing but a reaffirmation of Washington Consensus’ ten commandments to entrench neoliberalism. At the centre of the plan is a misguided notion that South Africa solution to poverty, unemployment and inequality is business led inclusive growth. And it is clear from the plan that the Minister’s priority is to get business confidence for business to drive the economic growth. However, it is the very same macroeconomic policy that has led to the crisis we face today.

In addition, the plan is a confirmation that former Minister Pravin Gordhan was not removed for policy matters or because he was protecting white monopoly capital. This is because the plan is a repetition of his plans and macroeconomic logic. 

The EFF further notes that Gigaba's intention to fast track the process of privatisation of state-owned entities (SOEs) under the pretence of disposing of non-score assets. Beyond this being a process of privatization, it is fundamentally about the Zuma administration, like the apartheid government did in its dying days, engaging in a process of transfer of assets to a politically connected few for a fraction of these assets true value. That is why a 21-year-old Atul Gupta nephew ended up in a corrupt joint venture with Denel Asia.  The state cannot lead industrialization without SOEs and it is for this reason that pervasive privatisation of taxpayers assets must be rejected.

What is called recapitalisation of SOEs is nothing but a bailout of entities that were mismanaged and all forms of governance was destroyed to create an enabling environment for looting. The plan to bailout SOEs without proper overhaul of corrupt boards and senior managers such as at Denel, Transnet, Eskom, SAA and others is nothing but a deliberate decision to put money where it can be looted with ease. The first step towards stabilising governance and a proper accountability structure in SOEs is to conduct a thorough investigation into the board and senior management appointment. It is only through this process that appointments of boards and senior management can ensure the rebuilding of SOEs.

The plan is a clear illustration that the Zuma administration has lost all legitimacy and there is no coherent plan to deal with the crisis facing South Africa. The plan presented does not say anything about radical economic transformation. Nor does it give any responsibility to the Minister of Economic Development or Minister of Trade and Industry, two departments who are supposed to be in the forefront of coordinated government inputs into stimulating economic growth. If anything, the plan is a Gupta faction plan that is trying to mislead South Africans into thinking the ANC is working on an economic recovery plan when it is not. 

Statement issued by the Economic Freedom Fighters, 14 July 2017