analysis
Thabo Masebe
South Africa’s democratic government stands accused of serious crimes against its own people. Is it guilty as charged? Methinks the charges are based on fallacious and dangerous hype.
Much has been said about our government’s economic policies that might convince a casual observer that the government is pursuing policies inimical to national democratic revolution.
Messages that reverberated through our streets during the national strike organised by the Congress of South African Trade Unions were that the “government is giving the private sector control of the state services on a broad scale”. We were told how the democratic government was selling off state assets to the highest bidder and thereby imposing “great hardship on poor South Africans”.
Could the African National Congress, the pioneer of the struggle for the emancipation of most South Africans, be responsible for inflicting untold suffering on the people who stood behind it through the struggle years?
It is unthinkable that the overwhelming majority of South Africans, who in June 1999 unequivocally said, “The ANC leads” and decided to renew its mandate to govern our country would believe that this government is adding to their misery.
The very poor, on whose behalf those who attack the government purport to be acting, constitute most of those who reaffirmed their confidence in the government’s ability to help them out of their misery. They directed it to continue with the economic policies it had chosen, ensuring that, by working together with the private sector, the economy grows at higher rates, creates new jobs, modernises and becomes internationally competitive.
The people knew well that their government had, since 1994, implemented policies they themselves had formulated and which are well documented.
At the time the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) was drafted, the people understood the economic challenges the country faced and refused, as President Thabo Mbeki said, “to fall victim to a subjective and populist approach to the economy”.
The RDP document says: “Financing the RDP presents both a challenge and an opportunity to revive our economy and set it on a path to sustained reconstruction and development. We must finance the RDP in ways that preserve macroeconomic balances, especially in terms of avoiding undue inflation and balance-of-payments difficulties”.
Those who accuse government of treachery responded loudly to the adoption of the growth, employment and redistribution (Gear) strategy in 1996. Those who opposed the RDP in the first place were beguiled by the loud voices that said the “government ditched the RDP and replaced it with Gear”.
In Parliament in February Mbeki said: “There is a general consensus that we have established the necessary macroeconomic balance and stability, away from the very precarious position we were in, in 1994, and despite a very volatile international environment.
“Furthermore, the international competitiveness of the economy has fundamentally improved. The threat of de-industrialisation and economic collapse as a result of manufacturing sector inefficiency, which we inherited, has been addressed through tariff and industrial reforms.
“However, the reality remains that our rate of growth is still too low, as are the aggregate savings and investment rates. Similarly, the levels of poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment in some parts of our country are too high.”
Remarkably, those who accuse the government praised the president for the announcement that there would be increased spending on infrastructure development. But they failed to attribute the healthy state of the economy, which made it possible for the government to save the money for this expenditure, to the very policies they so vigorously opposed.
Evidence abounds that this government, which is accused of crimes against its people, has remained unflinching in its commitment to the fight against poverty.
The poor who have benefited from the policies this government has implemented since 1994 will testify in its defence. Their quality of life will improve most with free basic water and electricity.
The RDP document also says “there must be a significant role for public sector investment to complement the role of the private sector and community participation in stimulating reconstruction and development. The primary question in this regard is not the legal form that government involvement in economic activity might take at any point, but whether such actions must strengthen the ability of the economy to respond to the massive inequalities in the country, relieve the material hardship of the majority of the people, and stimulate economic growth and competitiveness.”
When the government set out to do exactly what the RDP document says, it is accused of treachery! The accusers had to resort to lies to drum up support for their puerile political agendas. Among the lies are that government is privatising education and basic services such as water and electricity. This is despite massive evidence to the contrary.
Could it be that this government today stands accused of serious crimes against poor people because it is implementing policies that patently benefit the very poor? If not, on what grounds should the people of South Africa find their government guilty as charged?
On the basis of lack of evidence from the prosecution, I ask the jury the people of South Africa to dismiss all the charges and pronounce government’s innocence.
Thabo Masebe is Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa’s spokesperson