ANC discussion documents offer no plan for growth or job creation

The Democratic Alliance (DA) acknowledges the release of the ANC's policy conference discussion documents yesterday. It is clear from these documents that the ANC's proposals will not provide an answer to alleviating poverty, creating jobs or growing the economy. 

In fact, the ANC's draft proposals will impede growth and job creation. These include:

• Levying a 50% Resource Rent Tax on mining activities. This will discourage investment in mining and result in job losses.
• Shifting provincial boundaries for political purposes. This will undermine growth and job creation in successful provinces like the DA-run Western Cape.
• The adoption of an outdated "developmental state" model that relies on state capacity we simply do not have.
• Integrating Metro Police departments with the SAPS, limiting the ability of metros to fight priority crimes successfully, as the DA has done in Cape Town, and thereby increasing the cost of doing business.

A series of proposals, such as a plan to upscale public employment programmes, a plan to use the National Youth Service to regulate the outflow of graduates from universities, a plan for a state-led productivity enhancement programme and a plan to use state procurement as the primary driver of industrial development all suggest a more central role for the state in the economy. The state is unlikely to deliver on these plans efficiently, which will impede growth and kill jobs. 

In contrast, the DA is currently conducting a process to create a new set of policies that are explicitly aimed at achieving a sustainable economic growth rate of 8%. 

We are doing this because we know that the only way to reverse apartheid's legacy is to drastically increase economic growth to create jobs for millions of unemployed South Africans. No country has ever overcome poverty and unemployment without substantial economic growth.

Our policy process will culminate in the unveiling of our new 8% Growth Plan in July this year. The 8% Growth Plan will focus on accelerating economic growth, and centres on five key objectives:

• Promoting job creation by reducing barriers to entry in the labour market and addressing South Africa's skills shortage;
•  creating an inclusive society and providing redress by capitalising the poor and making Black Economic Empowerment and Employment Equity more effective;
• enhancing South Africa's international competitiveness, as well as implementing measures to increase competition within the domestic economy;
• strengthening our strategic trade interests and allocating resources to achieve optimal growth; and
• ensuring that growth is sustainable in the long term by managing our natural resources and ensuring a secure energy supply.

The reality is that we need to be brave enough to take the hard decisions needed to overcome the legacy of apartheid. We have to choose between the interests of union bosses and the interests of the unemployed; we have to make tough decisions on what we can afford and what we cannot; and we have to acknowledge that the state cannot be the answer to every problem. 

These documents largely shy away from addressing the tough realities. The DA's growth plan will address these tough challenges head-on. That is the only way we can ever hope to redress the damaging socio-economic legacy of apartheid. 

Statement issued by Dr Wilmot James MP, DA Shadow Minister of Trade & Industry, March 6 2012

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