Ravi Pillay is correct (“Tariffs are wake-up call for SA to compete smarter”, April 4). We need to become smarter and play the game better in this new, Donald Trump and tariff-filled world.
There’s no use whining about the injustice of these tariffs. And let me be clear: they are unjust and moronic. I wouldn’t be surprised if theories that Trump’s tariffs were generated by a flawed AI chatbot end up being correct. Trump will be hurting his own economy.
But we can’t control US policy. We can only determine what we do. Pillay is correct that we need to improve our trading efficiency, but I feel he may be putting the cart before the horse.
SA cannot become a skilled trader without a foundation of competent economic production and efficiency. The best trade policy in the world means nothing if we have a flawed economic base behind it. To achieve economic growth and prosperity, and to leverage our natural resources and the possible opportunities this new global order may generate, we need to fix our domestic economic policy first.
We need to abolish BEE, which holds back economic growth and enables corruption. We must lighten labour regulations to spearhead job creation. And we must privatise inefficient parastatals such as Eskom and Transnet that keep holding back the private sector.
We have the ability to become a leading economy. We just need to change domestic policy to enable economic growth. Not hinder it. And the only way to achieve this growth is by embracing free market policies.
Nicholas Woode-Smith
Cape Town
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