What will it take for the government, possibly with a new cabinet leadership team, to make 2023 the year it finally stops talking and gets things done?
It has many reforms planned or in process in a wide range of important areas, but little actually changes as it appears to struggle to operationalise these and deliver better outcomes for SA.
Business’s wish list for 2023 is long because so many different parts of our economy and society are dysfunctional. We’ve been pushing hard for constructive implementation of reforms adopted as government policy that have not materialised. Little tangible progress is being made, particularly with crucial issues of load-shedding and our transport and logistics systems.
Each reform is aimed at improving the efficiency of particular components of the economy, but taken together the “reform package” is aimed at addressing the three overarching goals for SA that all social partners agree on: generating inclusive economic growth, building a capable state and creating jobs.
Many differ on the means to achieve those goals, but none disagrees that the fundamental requirement is a growing economy, which will not happen without the reforms being successfully implemented. So it’s difficult to understand the reason for the lack of enthusiasm in government for more urgent delivery.
Many of the reforms, including the important ones related to energy and transport, were incorporated in the National Development Plan (NDP): Vision for 2030, launched in 2011, along with a wide range of goals encompassing all parts of the government and society. Had we achieved just some of the main goals we’d be on track to build an inclusive economy. In seven years, for example, we’d have brought unemployment down to 6% from 25% in 2011 and at least 80% of pupils would complete 12 years of schooling (we’re now at about 60%).
That wouldn’t have been wished into existence but would have been the result of implementing the well-researched policies that were incorporated into the NDP and focusing strongly on delivery of the targets set within clear time frames. Such policy certainty enables businesses to commit capital to long-term growth-building initiatives, something that is sorely lacking today. That’s the only way to create sustainable jobs in the long term.
Job-creation programmes
The government’s job-creation programmes, including the expanded public works programme and the Youth Employment Service scheme, are important but are aimed at creating short-term jobs. More long-term planning is needed, and brushing off the NDP, incorporating all the reforms and updating its time frames would be useful in developing a clear and coherent long-term plan, which would determine which policies need to be implemented and give the cabinet a clear policy framework with set targets against which performance can be measured.
At its centre would be how to get the infrastructure development plan up and running — as far back as 2011 R827bn was budgeted for this, yet the failure to upgrade or build new infrastructure at state-owned monopolies that are crucial to an efficient economy is proving extremely damaging today.
Another benefit would be a defined “end goal” for each reform. As much as the government has done bits and pieces of reforms, it cannot point to one and say job done, goal achieved. Even the completed spectrum auction has failed to deliver the spectrum to telecom companies because of the government’s failure to migrate the population from analogue to digital television.
With so many pressing issues needing urgent attention the short-term cannot be neglected. Here we need a separate list of actions designed to ease the load-shedding burden, improve Transnet’s capacity and tackle crime and corruption, particularly the acts of sabotage, theft and vandalism plaguing Transnet and Eskom. The government’s approach to these problems is largely incoherent and a simple list of the main required actions to be completed, by whom and within tight time frames will bring some order to the chaos, and give cabinet ministers clear goals and areas of responsibility.
The government cannot afford to continue muddling on as before with strong opposition coming from within its ranks to the various reforms. I sometimes get the feeling the attitude is “let’s do just enough to shut business and civil society up”, but we need change.
Business will not shut up. We will keep pushing for policies we believe are in the best interests of the economy and all South Africans, and encourage other social partners to do the same. And when the government does achieve measurable success in delivery, we will applaud loudly as we have done before.
• Mavuso (@BusiMavuso2) is CEO of Business Leadership SA
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