Radical: ANC treasurer general Zweli Mkhize says the party will be sticking to the NDP to grow GDP.
Radical economic transformation will be the vehicle the ANC uses to create the type of society envisioned in the National Development Plan, according to the party’s treasurer general Zweli Mkhize.
The two concepts have both been adopted by the ANC as official policy and may have different ideologies, but ultimately will work in tandem to achieve a faster growing gross domestic product (GDP) for South Africa.
“The NDP is largely where we are going, the radical economic transformation is how we are going to do things,” Mkhize told the Mail & Guardian on the sidelines of the ANC’s policy conference underway at the Nasrec Expo centre in Soweto.
The policy conference comes six months before the ANC will elect new leaders, and is meant to review and propose changes to existing party policy.
The ANC finance head said the type of economic transformation needed to achieve the economic target of GDP growth of 5% by 2030 includes decentralising the near absolute ownership of certain industries in the country by a handful of companies.
“It is a question of how do you grow in a concentrated ownership setting, we’re saying we need to open [it] up … The NDP says 5% [GDP growth] by 2030, radical economic transformation says we are not going to grow in the same structure, broaden it. Change it so we can grow [at a rate] where we can achieve those targets,” Mkhize concluded.
To this end, he said, the ANC would be encouraging renowned black businesspeople to establish their own companies that would compete with monopolies through its black industrialists programme.
The ANC’s head of policy, Jeff Radebe, said small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) would also need significantly more support from the state if they are to help achieve the NDP targets and compete in the same market as monopolies.
The NDP sets a target of 11 million jobs created by 2030 — eight million of which are expected to come from small businesses.