In Business Day last Thursday (May 31), the protectionist debate played out with Martyn Davies of Deloitte arguing for more protectionism in Africa to help develop the new-car industry, while HSBC CEO Mark Stadler warned about the dangers of inhibiting global free trade. Davies argued that most of Africa allowed the import of used cars and had become a "dumping ground" of "substandard" vehicles. He praised SA barring such imports, which stopped citizens buying the cars damaged in Japan’s 2011 tsunami. While Davies has a drum to beat for the local car industry, somebody should stand up for the citizens who are restricted by government fiat from buying used cars from the rest of the world. The industrialisation of SA is important, but for each "transfer" the state attempts across the economy, there are trade-offs. For every job created in the subsidised car industry, we might be harming many small-time entrepreneurs who have to rely on public or taxi transport instead of their own che...
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