Last week, a political journalist from a well-known national publication approached me outside the National Assembly and asked me what I thought of the economic debate in Parliament called for by DA leader Mmusi Maimane, which took place that Tuesday, 18 August 2015. I responded by telling the journalist I thought it was much needed and really exposed the weaknesses of the ANC when it comes to economic policy, and most importantly job creation. The journalist retorted by expressing that she thought the DA speeches in the debate were “too political”.
We proceeded to debate the issue for a short while where I stated that the problem with our economy and its inability to grow and create jobs is because of the political decisions that the ANC has taken and continue to take. So in reality, the debate can only be one which is framed through a political prism. In the end, we agreed to disagree.
The conversation was an important one because it revealed how that particular journalist and perhaps the publication views the current debate on the economy, that is, couched purely in economics and completely separate and devoid of politics. One would be foolish to believe it is an “either or” situation, but rather a blend of both.
Let me be frank, in my opinion, the reason South Africa finds itself in an economic crisis is because of the political decisions the Zuma administration has taken, including those that he has entrusted to implement economic policies. The business crushing policies which seek to inhibit, rather than allow business to grow are solely political in their nature and are in stark contradiction to the National Development Plan.
The much delayed and now published Promotion and Protection of Investment Bill is a perfect case study in this regard. The Bill in its current format should rather be named the “Destruction of Investment Bill”. In essence, Minister Davies has allowed the Bilateral International Treaties (BITS) to lapse with many European countries and wants to replace it with a one size fits all bill. To think that trade is homogeneous and singular in approach is ridiculous. It is not.
Investment flows into South Africa dropped by 31.2% to $5.8-billion in 2014, down from $8.3-billion in 2013 that is according to the 2015 World Investment Report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). South Africa should be rolling out a tailored red carpet to each country that wants to invest in our country.