TOBAGGANING THE DOWNSLOPES OF INTERNATIONAL INDICATORS

Not since the days of John Vorster have liberal values been under such attack by government as they are now.  On the ‘battlefield of ideas', the ANC has arrayed its forces against "neo-liberalism'; against "a weak and passive state"; and against "over-emphasis on individual rights (and) market fundamentalism." It has articulated its own position as ‘the developmental state, collective rights, values of caring and community solidarity, and non sexism'. 

Blade Nzimande, the Secretary-General of the SACP, has been in the vanguard of recent sallies against liberalism.  On 27 September he warned that   "we have a huge liberal offensive against our democracy" and that "the print media is the biggest perpetrator of this liberal thinking."  It was accordingly necessary to establish a Media Appeals Tribunal "to protect socialism" (NB. In saying this, the Minister  admitted what critics of the MAT have averred all along - that its real purpose is political and not the protection of  the rights and dignity of individuals as its promoters claim.)

Nzimande's attack on the liberal media followed attacks last year on universities in which he said that "we need to give higher education a revolutionary content, and not a liberal content."   He also warned against "human rights fundamentalism" and said that it - together with academic freedom - were used by the ‘elite classes' to undermine the transformation of the higher education sector. 

In its recently published ‘Growth Path to Full Employment' Cosatu castigates the ‘myths of neo-liberalism' which it identifies as ‘trade liberalisation, financial liberalisation, labour market deregulation, the limited role of the state, fiscal austerity, tight monetary policy and central bank independence'.  It ascribes all the ills of the economy - and most notably catastrophic levels of unemployment - to neo-liberal policies which it claims have been implemented under the guise of the ANC's GEAR programme.

The assault on liberalism has measurable consequences.  According to the latest ‘Economic Freedom of the World Report' South Africa has slumped from its position as 42^nd freest economy in the world in 2000 to the 82^nd position in 2008.   This places it in the survey's second lowest quartile.  Not only has the South African economy become less free in absolute terms, it has also been overtaken by a number of competitor countries that have embraced free markets and free institutions.

The Economic Freedom report meticulously measures the performance of 141 countries in 42 areas covered by size of government; legal structure and property rights; access to sound money; freedom to trade internationally; and the regulation of credit, labour and business.  It indicates a clear correlation between economic freedom and desirable social outcomes: 

• People in the top quartile of economically free countries have per capita incomes almost ten times higher than those of people in the bottom quartile.
• The poorest ten per cent of people in the freest economies have incomes that were twice as high as the average income in the least free countries.
• People in the freest economies can expect to live almost twenty years longer than their counterparts in the least free quartile. 
• They report a life satisfaction of 7.5 out of 10 compared with life satisfaction of only 4.7 in the lowest quartile. 
• They have an average Human Development Index of .898 compared with the average HDI index of the least free quartile of only .541.  The difference between these statistics is the difference between well-being and misery in terms of income, health and education.
• Needless to say, they also enjoy far greater political and civil freedoms than their counterparts in the least free economies. 

Freedom works.  The ideological approach of its critics does not.  Countries that have small, effective governments do better than those with sprawling bureaucracies.  Government in South Africa is growing rapidly - but it is not becoming more effective:  government expenditure as a percentage of GDP has climbed from 26.3% in 2000/01 to 32.3% this year.  The average salaries of public servants are now 50% higher than those in the private sector - despite their declining ability to deliver effective services.  One might also ask how their recent strike promoted "the values of caring and collective solidarity".

Countries that limit intrusive regulation and promote economic freedom create environments in which entrepreneurs can generate wealth - to the manifest benefit of the exchequer and the general public. Countries that accept the key role of the market invariably offer consumers a far greater choice of products of higher quality and at lower prices than economies that oppose "market fundamentalism." 

On the battlefield of ideas those who are fighting for liberal values can count on the support of the Constitution.  It does not recognise ‘collective rights': all rights devolve on individuals (‘everyone' or ‘persons'); there is no idea that individual rights can ever be ‘over-emphasised'.  On the contrary, the Constitution regards these rights as the ‘cornerstone of democracy in South Africa' and calls on the state - not to downplay them - but to ‘protect, promote and fulfill' them.

South Africa has done well wherever it has implemented policies based on freedom and pragmatism.   The GEAR-based macro-economic policies - that are now so widely denigrated - helped to ensure 17 years of uninterrupted economic growth until the global downturn in 2008.  They also enabled the ANC government to achieve singular success in fighting inflation and in slashing our national debt from 47% of GDP in 1994 to only 22% in 2008.  We have done badly wherever we have followed restrictive ideological approaches - particularly in the labour market; in land reform; and in the deployment of under-qualified cadres to key posts in government departments, municipalities and parastatals. 

South Africa is sliding in virtually all the major international performance indicators:  since 1995 we have slipped from 89^th position in the HDI rankings to 129^th position last year; and in the past two years we have dropped from 45^th position to 54^th position in terms of our global competitiveness.   We cannot ignore these objective assessments of our performance and of our prospects for future success in a highly competitive world. A major cause of this slippage may be found in the intensifying assault on liberal values and economic freedom on the ‘battlefield of ideas'.  John Vorster would have approved.

Dave Steward is Executive Director of the FW de Klerk Foundation

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