This ANC government has become the enemy of freedom

18 August 2015

Note to Editors: The following speech was delivered by the DA Leader, during the debate on the economy titled “The growing economic crisis facing South Africa.” The debate was in the name of the DA Leader.

Madam Speaker

Honourable Members

Bagaetsho 

Dumelang

The rights and freedoms contained in our Constitution are being denied to millions of our fellow South Africans.

True freedom requires more than just political and social freedom, but economic emancipation.

Yet South Africa is facing an unprecedented economic crisis.

Economic growth for 2014 fell to 1.4% and is forecast to grow at only 2% for 2015.

The most recent manufacturing data shows a decrease in production of 1.2% quarter-on-quarter for the 2nd quarter of 2015, following a contraction of 0.5% in the first quarter.

The Rand is weakening. COSATU called for this some years ago, but it has not had the effect of stimulating export-led growth. South Africa is still a net importer.

Meanwhile for ordinary South Africans, the cost of living continues to rise.

But this economic crisis is really about one thing: jobs, or the lack thereof.

Without jobs, freedom is limited. The new inequality is between those who work and those who do not.

Madam Speaker,

The real cost of the economic crisis is the freedom of the 8.4 million South Africans who are unemployed.

Plainly stated, 1 in every 3 South Africans is unable to find work. 

1 in every 3 South Africans lack the means to provide for themselves and their families.

Of even greater concern is that, of those who are unemployed, 2 in every 3 are young people. 70% of these unemployed young people are black South Africans. 

Young, black South Africans who are not enjoying the benefits of freedom.

Madam Speaker,

I recently visited Limpopo and met with those who feel helpless without work. To the residents of Limpopo, unemployment statistics are not numbers – they are a condition of life.

Statistics do not reflect the anguish of parents who cannot feed their children.

Or the despair felt by graduates who cannot find jobs despite their hard-won diplomas or the degrees in their hands.

The only hope Limpopo graduates have is if they are connected. 

There is no longer a link between effort and reward.

Honourable Members,

President Jacob Zuma has failed these South Africans with unemployment not having dropped below 30% since he took office.

His promises and his plans do not put food on the table nor pay for an education, while the corruption of his government deprives citizens of basic services.

Last week the President called a press conference to update South Africans on the State of the Nation. But the President had nothing to announce other than more of the same empty rhetoric. 

Instead of taking responsibility, the President blames global economic conditions.

But the figures simply do not support this argument, a fact acknowledged by the ANC in an internal discussion document prepared for their upcoming National General Council (NGC). 

According to the latest World Economic Outlook by the IMF, over the next two years emerging markets and developing economies are projected to grow by 4.45%, while Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow by 4.75%.

In contrast, South Africa is expected to grow by a meagre 2%, far below the level required to put a dent in the unemployment rate.

Madam Speaker, 

The fact of the matter is that the economic crisis we are facing is a direct result of the failure of the ANC government. 

It is under this government’s watch that Minister Gigaba introduced job-killing visa regulations and now attempts to repair the damage through another ineffectual Inter-Ministerial Committee. 

It is under this government’s watch that our energy crisis has gone from bad to worse, with Medupi and Kusile now delayed by a further 2 years.

Honourable Members, no economy can grow unless it is energy secure.

It is under this government that we are now seeing water shedding on top of load shedding as infrastructure collapses due to mismanagement and corruption.

And it is under this government’s watch that investors have been scared off by threats of expropriation and uncertainty regarding empowerment polices.

Minister Rob Davies has tabled B-BBEE codes, which he was then forced to review and clarify, when it became blatantly clear that they only serve to enrich those who are already empowered. 

This is a crisis of this government’s making – but when asked about the extent of job losses in the mining industry in this House, the President did not know.

Madam Speaker,

This government has become the enemy of freedom by denying those South Africans who desire to live a life of value the opportunity to do so.

But there is a solution. And I believe that the DA has the solutions. 

So let the DA provide the requisite leadership so sorely lacking on the right side of this house. 

The South African economy has the potential to reach 5 to 8% growth over the long term and halve unemployment.

In order to realise this potential, we need to begin by fixing the education system to better equip new entrants to the labour market with the necessary skills, a point supported by evidence from the World Bank in their South Africa Economic Update.

The World Bank further emphasises the need to invest in the infrastructure required for economic growth.

First we need to solve the energy crisis that is crippling the South African economy by breaking the Eskom monopoly and opening up the grid to independent power producers.

We must reject the R1 trillion nuclear deal negotiated by the President and his cronies, and invest in co-generation initiatives and renewable energy sources that could be contributing to the grid in a few short years.

Further to this, we must take actions to rid the economy of legislative and regulatory constraints in key industries, such as suspending the job-killing visa regulations and amending the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA), to give greater long term certainty to investors.

Apart from stabilising the economic environment for existing industries, we also need to empower small businesses and micro enterprises to grow.

We must take away the hurdles faced by these enterprises and cut the red tape that constrains them. We must make them exempt from certain tax and labour regulations so that entrepreneurs become the heroes of employment, not the enemy of the state.

The DA recognises the importance of protecting the rights of workers to make sure they are treated fairly. But equally so, we acknowledge that inflexible labour regulations in South Africa protect those who work at the expense of those who do not.

The DA would repeal certain sections of the Labour Relations Act (LRA), such as those relating to collective bargaining, closed-shop agreements and minimum thresholds for representation.

Workers must have the right to choose. They must have the right to stand up to unions like COSATU and SADTU that use strong-arm tactics to bully those who challenge them.

Finally, we need to look at expanding the benefits enjoyed by companies in Special Economic Zones (SEZ) to the whole country in order to increase exports and attract foreign investment. 

Honourable Members,

The economy is like a living organism that will only grow and flourish under the right conditions.

Government has a responsibility to provide economic leadership in order to stimulate growth.

It must create the conditions that will create jobs, including reliable infrastructure, a skilled labour force, and a legislative and regulatory framework that supports and incentivises job creation, and policy certainty that attracts investment.

President Zuma’s government has failed us in this regard. This corrupt enemy of freedom has created this economic crisis.

The solution lies in replacing this corrupt government with a champion of truly inclusive freedom. 

A DA government would make it its mission to unlock the potential of our economy and respond to the needs of the human face of our economic crisis.

We would provide the leadership South Africans are so craving and would serve as an accountable, competent government that can allow its citizens to fulfil their hopes and opportunities.

This is what the DA has done in the Western Cape, where we have led that province to the lowest unemployment rate in the country and economic growth that outpaces the national average.

South Africans have the opportunity next year to start removing the enemy of freedom from municipalities in the local government elections.

And remove them they will. 

I thank you.

Issued by the DA, August 18 2015