The ANC fails to define its own economic policy - Its position has shifted from social democracy to neoliberalism over two decades. But what is it now?
In last week’s State of the Nation address, President Cyril Ramaphosa allowed himself to utter a few words that exposed the naivety of the politician and his office. The offending words were: “We all know that government does not create jobs. Business creates jobs.” Of course, these comments were consistent with the ANC’s economic strategy, but the politician should have recognised that there has always been a deliberate distinction between ANC economic policy and ANC rhetoric.
And when Botha failed to cross the Rubicon, the business sector lobbied harder for measures promoting international commerce. The new ANC administration would ultimately bear the brunt of that pressure. Gear represented a radical change away towards what is now ANC policy. Gear from 1996 was aligned with IMF thinking but not with the basics of the RDP text. There was a greater focus on fiscal restraint, and basic RDP components such as redistribution were eliminated as targets. Most importantly, the function of the state was shifted from revolutionary leadership to coordination. Economic transformation and restorative justice were no longer prioritised.
None of these decisions are Ramaphosa’s. The president did not make the ANC what it is today, the party’s ideological position is as old as South African democracy. Ramaphosa did not convince the ANC to abandon principles of universality in the provisioning of public goods, only to rethink that decision when heavy investments in public goods were not yielding the social returns promised by international donors and funders.
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