LETTER: Investments that Cyril speaks of are an illusion

“Ramaphosa’s 2-trillion Empty Investment Promises” (Editorials, April 20-26) rightly criticises President Cyril Ramaphosa’s theatrical claims that South Africa is flush with cash. These so-called investments are an illusion. Empty pledges with no substance or worth. The type of thing that is indicative of this government’s entire economic strategy.

Substance doesn’t matter to the ANC. All it cares about is the illusion that it is doing well. So, it makes grand promises to impress voters and supporters, then forgets about them after the elections or uses twisted data to try to fool people into thinking it has done some semblance of a good job.

The ANC’s obsession with empty numbers is one of the symptoms of this deceitful modus operandi. Ramaphosa promises to create a million jobs, without putting forward any real plan on how to do so. He raises billions in investments, without showing how the money was spent or what positive effect it had on the real economy.

The fact is the ANC doesn’t know how to fix the economy. It only knows how to break it and then shout big numbers. As if that makes things better. But even if Ramaphosa did manage to raise R2-trillion, it wouldn’t matter. Without a business-friendly economy, liberalised labour laws, eased regulations and a stifling of corruption, any money raised will be squandered through the tendering process, lost to corruption, or held back by a tidal wave of policies that make doing business in South Africa a constant uphill battle.

Don’t be deceived by the ANC’s big numbers. Its success stories are smoke and mirrors and have no positive bearing on the real economy, or the lives of South Africans.

Nicholas Woode-Smith

Cape Town

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