Economist slams ANC’s economic recovery plan as 'lame and repackaged'

The African National Congress (ANC) has recently announced a ten-point Economic Action Plan aimed at stimulating growth in light of the country’s ongoing economic crisis.

ALSO READ: ANC unveils ten-point plan to boost economy, focusing on Transnet, Mining, and Eskom

However, economist Duma Gqubule criticised it as offering little more than recycled promises.

"It's a repackaging of stuff that they've talked about before, and they've just changed the ordering and the emphasis of the different impacts of it."

Gqubule highlighted that since party president Cyril Ramaphosa took office in 2018, economic performance has deteriorated.

He adds, "It is so lame. I think the President needs to understand what impact this economic collapse is having on his legacy. Objectively, this Presidency is the worst in terms of economic performance; it's the worst since 1994."

"The economy has collapsed over the past 16 years. With the GDP growth of 1.1%, our GDP per capita last year was lower than it was in 2017. It's going to decline again this year. So, we will have 18 years of declining living standards. And you can't aim a water pistol at a blazing inferno of unemployment."

He argued that the impact of state capture cannot continue to be used as an excuse for inaction.

"When are you going to run out of excuses? We can't be blaming Apartheid for this situation."

In a call for urgent stimulus, Gqubule criticised government austerity measures and high interest rates, which he believes are strangling economic activity.

"We have a macro-economic crisis; you can't solve it with micro-economic reforms."

"This economy needs breathing space. We need a stimulus for this economy. Anything that doesn't provide a stimulus to this economy is a waste of time."

To listen to Duma Gqubule in conversation with 702 and CapeTalk's Mandy Wiener, click the audio below: