LUMKILE MONDI: What should we expect from Ramaphosa’s ANC on the economic front?
President should aim for a new political settlement for industrialisation and his party should ditch the economics of isolation
Although the results are not yet finalised, it appears as though President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC has done enough to pass the 50% mark and will govern for the next five years. The president clearly has broad-based support among business and concerned South Africans who believe he possesses some Mandela-like qualities. However, this perpetuates the view that in SA, because of our racist past, black Africans possess better qualities to govern. That is, the notion that because we live in a country with a black majority we can be better governed by one of our own through a black-led party such as the ANC or EFF, has become a norm. Even 25 years of poor economic performance and declining per capita incomes credit rating downgrades by at least two credit rating agencies, because of a ballooning debt to GDP ratio now at 56%, a rising budget deficit and stubborn unemployment of more than 27%, does not seem to change voter behaviour. It may seem that South Africans are tolerant of poor gover...
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