POPULIST PRESSURE
CAROL PATON: ANC conference will pit Jacob Zuma’s agenda against the economy
‘The ANC conference’s structure makes it vulnerable to populism — it is policy making through mob rule’
This is not a politically correct matter to raise and I suspect I’ll be called alarmist and pessimistic by the good people who remain in our government and in the ANC, fighting to avert the slide. But it is one we must raise so that we know exactly what we are up against. President Jacob Zuma is driving a "radical" and populist policy agenda. Until now, we’ve paid a hidden and unquantified cost for the government’s economic mismanagement. Business is not investing; companies have gone abroad for opportunities; and the economy has limped along. The cost of a "radical" policy change would be harsh: borrowing costs would rise; government spending would shrink; land and property prices would fall; the rand would plunge; and economic and political stability would be at risk as the effects took hold.Judging by the populist and anti-white rhetoric from quarters of the ANC, this is a growing possibility. What stands between now and then is a critically important ANC conference. We know what...
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