Peter Attard Montalto’s most recent column refers (“Growth requires more than reform”, July 16).
In SA we have two main reasons why in this political environment we will not see economic growth generally, and fixed investment (foreign and local) specifically.
Obviously corruption and crime are a big influence — but this is not uncommon in emerging markets, though SA is certainly a lot worse and more blatant than most. The problem is the competence and incapacity of key ANC players who control socioeconomic policy driven by 1950s ideology.
The other is the promotion of black nationalist fundamentalism (of which BEE is one manifestation). It’s not just that it’s racist, it’s that there is no business case for it at all. It has not only increased the cost of doing business in SA, it has also increased the hurdle rate for new investments by 30%.
Our challenge is that we don’t have democracy as such, in which all citizens can fully contribute, but rather a form of majoritarianism that is morphing into full-blown racism, in all state institutions and now the private sector as well.
We have a political problem to sort out before we can even look at the economic and employment issues.
Ian Ferguson
Via BusinessLIVE
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