The Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to use his upcoming State of the Nation Address (SONA) to announce significant reforms aimed at addressing South Africa’s economic and governance crises.
According to Ann Bernstein, executive director of CDE, the government of national unity (GNU) has failed to deliver on its promise of reform, with little progress made in addressing the country’s deepening crises.
“The GNU was formed without an agreement on a programme of action, and nearly nine months later, the promised ‘policy agenda’ has yet to be agreed,” Bernstein said. “We have seen some improvements in governance, but the most striking thing about the GNU is just how little policy reform is being contemplated.”
The CDE has identified five key areas that require urgent attention, including:
- Fixing the state: Streamlining the Presidency, appointing competent people to key positions, and strengthening evidence-based decision making.
- Freeing up markets: Pursuing a smart industrial policy, subjecting state-owned enterprises to competition, and fostering an export-led growth model.
- Mass inclusion: Removing regulatory barriers to small business growth, ceasing the extension of wage agreements to non-party firms, and using government funds more effectively to support small firms.
- Fiscal crisis: Resisting the temptation to commit to more spending programmes, improving the quality of public spending, and focusing on core business.
- Rule of law: Reforming the Judicial Service Commission, strengthening the National Prosecuting Authority, and addressing the culture of impunity among the country’s elites.
“The GNU needs its own programme of action, policies, and priorities that build on a common and honest diagnosis of why South Africa is in deep trouble,” Bernstein said. “Without this, it is hard to see how the GNU survives. Or even why it should.”
The CDE has urged President Ramaphosa to use his SONA to announce bold and catalytic reforms that will address the country’s crises and put South Africa on a path to sustainable growth and development.
