The government of national unity (GNU) mooted by the ANC is the best step forward after it lost its 50% majority nationally and in Gauteng, the Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. The country is on tenterhooks as to what the immediate future might hold.
This is a moment of truth for SA’s fractured political environment as a united front is needed for the challenges facing us: worsening poverty, unemployment and inequality and the attendant evils of substance abuse, prostitution and human trafficking, to name but a few.
The suggestion for a GNU at national level is a mature move by the ANC and must be lauded. To its credit the party has risen above many other post-liberation governments in Africa by accepting the election results when some would have used other means — brutal ones at that — to stay in power.
Also of note is that the governing party has taken a calculated risk as it is between a rock and a hard place. If the GNU takes off and there is an improvement in governance, that improvement will be credited to the GNU. But if things do not change for the better the ANC will be blamed, and its partners in governance are likely to lead the charge.
Be that as it may, the GNU is crucial and the uppermost question is: “Can our political parties rise above themselves and respond to the national crisis”? Stats SA data and other indicators tell us that 2-million South Africans go to bed hungry on any one night, and over 35-million people must try to survive on less than R1,200 per person per month.
In addition, we face worsening crime and rampant corruption. In some areas, like Khayelitsha, Diepsloot, Inanda, Hammanskraal and Soshanguve, entrepreneurs pay protection fees to extortionist gangs just to be able to operate.
For the GNU to confront the above — specifically poverty and unemployment — the economy must be boosted and have better rates of growth than the less than 1% a year of the recent past. The first step is persuading the private sector to release the funds they hold in reserve, and to attract more investment.
In getting the private sector and/or investment community to come to the party to grow our economy, create jobs and new businesses, naturally it means markets must come into play.
The millions without jobs, no meal on some days, no roof over their heads and who are exposed to crime, extortion and corruption in their everyday lives are not interested in political niceties. They want an end to their misery and marginalisation.
I listened with wonderment to a recent radio discussion on economic growth and the reality of markets. Some callers, including the host, were of the view that we cannot be dictated to by “the markets”. For their information, the markets are already doing so, and this is the case in every part of our lives. When we go the shop, we compare prices because we want value for our money. This is the market at play.
In general terms and mainstream economics a market is any structure or situation that allows buyers and sellers to exchange any type of goods, services and information. This exchange of goods or services, with or without money, is a transaction. Investing or expanding operations by firms is driven by specific guidelines, imperatives or expectations, and this is again where markets come in.
In July 2017 the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Competition Regulation and Economic Development issued a policy bulletin that confirmed the total reserves of SA’s 50 top firms stood at R1.4-trillion in 2016.
According to the bulletin, the centre accepts that there are legitimate reasons for companies to reserve funds, including to hedge against future uncertainty or risk and to plan for future projects. However, the rate at which the total stock of reserves has increased over time is notable in light of SA’s low investment and growth cycle. Profits that could, and should, be invested to achieve growth, all other things equal, are being withheld.
For firms to release funds and start or expand operations, they must see the environment as safe and profitable, just as you and I only spend or invest our money when we believe the return is worth it. This is a global phenomenon — it even includes China, a so-called communist environment.
If all political parties embrace the GNU, investors and firms will be encouraged as it will augur well for political stability and certainty. But if not all parties respond to the call, investors will have to decide which coalition or alliance is most likely to encourage stability and certainty so that they can avoid putting their funds at risk.
They will compare coalition permutations and assess which combination of parties they believe will be most investor friendly. These are the realities of the situation, and the choice facing the ANC and SA.
In the radio discussion referred to earlier some callers were passionately opposed to an ANC-DA coalition, with some saying it would take the country back to apartheid. Really? I doubt investors or firms would see it that way. After all, African membership in the DA is about 40%, and when you bring in coloureds and Indians, black representation is over 60%.
Are these black Africans, Indians and coloureds really apartheid operatives? Don’t forget, after 1994 Nelson Mandela included the National Party — the party of apartheid — in his GNU, and we accepted it.
To add to this, the ANC’s Freedom Charter and Pan Africanist Congress and Black Consciousness policies are not anti-white. On what basis, then, do some see the DA as a “white party”, despite its mixed leadership and membership?
Job creation
A few weeks ago a number of Afrikaner organisations pledged their preparedness to work with government to better the country. Are the critics of a coalition government that includes “white” parties saying we must kick against this gesture instead of embracing it? In my book such overtures must be embraced as they suggest a better SA for all.
The millions without jobs, no meal on some days, no roof over their heads and who are exposed to crime, extortion and corruption in their everyday lives are not interested in political niceties. They want an end to their misery and marginalisation. This is what the mooted GNU by the ANC could achieve, and why it must therefore be supported.
• Dr Mazwai is a former PAC activist, journalist and editor who is now a researcher on grassroots entrepreneurship.
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