ANC STATEMENT ON TREVOR MANUEL'S "THREE WASTED DECADES"

The African National Congress (ANC) is deeply concerned by the utterances attributed to Trevor Manuel, former NEC member who was also the longest serving Minister of Finance post-apartheid. Manuel is quoted by News24 as having referred to the ANC's period in office since 1994 as "almost three decades that were wasted".

Manuel is said to have made these remarks on Thursday the 20th August 2020 during a webinar discussion hosted by Catholic Parliamentary Liason Office and the Hanns Siedel Foundation.

While we respect Manuel's right to freedom of speech, we believe that there is absolutely no basis to portray a doom-laden picture of the country to the media and to the outside world. We are painfully aware of an ongoing onslaught against our movement being desperately choreographed on various social media platforms and urge Manuel not to fall into this trap.

Taken at face value Manuel's utterances could loosely imply that the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality started in 1994. The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) as well as other economic interventions were precisely aimed at placing our economy and society on a sustained developmental trajectory. Since the democratic breakthrough of 1994, the people of South Africa have entrusted the ANC government with the responsibility to transform the economy and to create a better life for all.

Since 1994, the quality of life of South Africans has shown tremendous improvement. For example, we have expanded access to clean drinking water, housing, education, social security and improved quality of health care services to the majority of South Africans. We have also increase literacy levels of South Africans.

In the recent past, we have been hard at work to ensure that we alter apartheid spatial planning by ensuring that more South Africans live closer to economic opportunities.

In 1994, 26 years ago, the ANC inherited a country where the majority of South Africans were excluded from participation in the mainstream economy. We took it upon ourselves to formulate and implement many policies to transform the economy in order to benefit the majority.

It has always been our desire, guided by the Freedom Charter, that people must share in the country's wealth and to tilt economic balance of power in favour of all South Africans.

At all times we are guided by the need to demonstrate responsible stewardship over the country's resources through growth, clean governance, innovation and empowerment.

We acknowledge that many economic problems continue to be based on the structures of inequality and underdevelopment inherited from South Africa's colonial and apartheid past. The intensification of our interventions on the economy forms an integral part of our pro-poor path, uniting all South Africans to promote growth and development.

Government has already begun taking decisive action to address some of the issues. These include:

Dealing with the high concentration and anti-competitive behaviour within the South African economy.

taking conscious effort to promote good governance in SOEs, to ensure their resources are focused to achieving the objectives for which they exist, and that they play their real catalytic role in the economy

Fiscal management that is biased towards growth, in particular, to support productive activities whilst dealing with any legacy challenges needed to stabilise the state and its agencies

Accelerated land reform programme that promotes development and sustainability.

The ANC led government has also prioritised infrastructure spending. As we succeed in reconfiguring the state, improve its capacity to deliver, stabilise SOEs and deal decisively with corruption, we expect to see some incremental impact on resources towards infrastructure.

A public-led infrastructure fund will build more roads, schools, health facilities, water and sanitation infrastructure, transport networks, ICT systems and energy generation and distribution capacity. Infrastructure remains a key element, not just because it helps in delivery of services, but has multiplier economic impacts, both on related industries but also on the labour-absorption capacity of the construction sector.

The ANC will continue to take concrete steps to accelerate interventions that will help the country to step out of the low growth trap, accelerate land reform, reduce inequality, improve employment, restore confidence in the management of fiscal resources, as well as build popular confidence in our ability to stabilise and transform South Africa's economy.

As the ANC, we are the first to acknowledge our weaknesses and concede our mistakes as part of our own commitment to accountability and the need to self-correct.

Attributing economic challenges and social illness that confront South Africa today to the post-1994 government alone is a betrayal of reality.

We urge all peace loving South Africans, including Manuel, to use appropriate platforms including their expertise and experience gained over a period of time to bring about ideas that will help shape our economy for the better. Forging a new social compact requires that we all work together united in our diversity.

Statement issued by Pule Mabe, ANC National Spokesperson, 24 August 2020