SA is in a low-employment, slow-growth trap. Much of this is the result of poor policy choices and misguided thinking about what drives growth and employment.In short, state-led development is failing in SA and the country needs a credible new strategy to get growth going. So says a series of reports published by the Centre for Development & Enterprise (CDE), an independent think-tank.Under the banner "The Growth Agenda: priorities for mass employment and inclusion", the reports conclude that SA’s future depends partly on whether the private sector can expand, become more dynamic and employ many more people.This will require that, among other things, government creates an attractive and competitive environment for all firms, large and small. But it must also encourage the emergence of labour-intensive industries that use lots of unskilled workers since it’s the lack of employment opportunities for the average person that lies behind SA’s high poverty and inequality rates.This is sum...
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