By: Bafana Phillip Bafana
The new democratic dispensation has ushered countless policies into the corridors of governance, yet they’ve achieved so little.
ASGISA (Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa) was one of the policies that raised people’s hopes only to end in disappointment.
The main objective of this policy was to introduce policies, programmes, and interventions that would allow the South-African economy to grow enough, to halve poverty and unemployment between 2004 and 2014. We are now in 2022 and growth only exists in our rhetoric.
The issue of black businesses in South Africa has been a bone of contention for years with no hope of an amicable solution.
The government has in itself enough financial muscle to support black businesses, but giant white-owned corporates continue to be at the centre of business in the business transactions of the State-Owned Enterprises.
These companies are the main service providers, and they continue to bulldoze operations to serve their interests.
The hypocrisy of the government is constantly exposed in how they prioritise these companies, yet they continue to introduce policies that bear no fruits for blacks.
Since 1994, the South-African government has introduced several policies that were supposed to transform the lives of black people. These policies were primarily focused on economic development and poverty alleviation.
Some of the policies were RDP; Reconstruction and Development Programme. Its main focus was to achieve high and sustainable economic growth, but it was reduced to just free housing and nothing more.
The GEAR – Growth, Employment, and Redistribution – framework had an objective to encourage greater public investment in infrastructure, and to also reduce the budget deficit.
These policies were introduced so that black people could participate in the formal economic structures of the country.
These policies never achieved their intended purpose.
The cries from the black business owners must be at the centre of the government’s priorities.
The government is violating its policies by continuing to offer big businesses to white-owned companies while neglecting black business owners.
The top 10 of the biggest companies in the country are white-owned and the government is doing nothing to address such economic imbalance.
These big companies continue to amass government tenders while black companies remain in the trenches with no hope of ever making it to the apex of the business ladder.
Some politicians in South Africa are shareholders in the very companies that are bulldozing the smaller companies. Economic transformation is only in our speeches and never implemented, just like many other policies that the government has previously introduced.
Implementation of policies and laws in South Africa remains to be a perpetual quandary and there is no evidence of a positive political will. The government must implement laws that will prohibit public servants from doing business with the government, and politicians must be thoroughly audited.
In September 2018, President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke at the National Council of Provinces and promised the people of South Africa that he would form a robust system of lifestyle audits from the end of October 2018. He also said that it should apply to everybody in senior positions, including himself.
Ramaphosa also said it should be implemented throughout senior public service. We are now headed towards the end of the fourth year since his utterances and nothing has been done.
The government’s way of conducting business is questionable and must be challenged apolitically by all members of society. Most politicians, regardless of the party they belong to, have somehow benefited from government business deals and so many continue to do so.
The business whales such as Glencore, Naspers, Anglo American, BHP Group, and a few others are the only companies that know what success is. The most devastating aspect is the fact that these companies are not originally from South Africa.
When will South Africa prioritise its citizens? South African SOEs continue to be cash cows for these multinational companies while our economy is spiralling down towards nothingness.
The government needs to be intentional about empowering black companies. The profit margins that these companies continue to hoard can bring life to thousands of black-owned companies.
The government must mandate the SOEs to adopt the policies put in place already and start prioritising black-owned companies. All the business institutions, both public and private, must be properly monitored and uplifting black-owned businesses should be part of their compliance obligations.
Gone are the days of planning and policy development, no amount of policies can address the severity of inequalities in our society.
The people of South Africa have had enough promises, policies without implementation are time-wasting and our people have no more time left.
The president must make an unpopular decision and upset these corporate giants so that his people can have a share in the country’s wealth.
After the fall of the president, Mbeki ASGISA was dropped, and in 2010 President Jacob Zuma introduced New Growth Path (NGP) which aimed to address structural unemployment.
Zuma lamented the ever-soaring poverty patterns that continue to tyrannise the people of South Africa. We are now in the advanced stages of Ramaphosa’s presidency and there is no economic transformation.
The whole government must be held responsible for failing to implement its policies. The gap between the poor and the rich is wider than before, and the government is guilty of failing to adhere to its policies.
The biggest companies doing business with the government should be owned by black South Africans. Economic growth is needed now more than ever. The unemployment rate is now over 30%, this is a sign that all policy interventions have not served their intended goals.
The political discourse in South Africa is about power and the economy is secondary. Business is monopolised by predominantly white-owned companies. The term “white monopoly capital” is real and it should not be ignored by South Africans.
The people of South Africa should never cease to call out this economic oppression until the government starts moving in a positive direction.
South Africa is known as Africa’s most industrialised economy, but it doesn’t benefit South Africans.
Enough is enough; the president must choose between business giants or South African citizens.
*Bafana Phillip Bafana is a ANCYL BEC member in Midrand