Is the ANC Trying to Revive the Economy or Voters’ Confidence?

When President Cyril Ramaphosa unveiled yet another 10-point economic action plan this week, many South Africans reacted with a familiar mix of fatigue and suspicion. After years of growth promises and policy repackaging, economists and political analysts believe the timing has less to do with fixing the economy and more to do with salvaging voter trust ahead of the next round of elections.

Another Plan, Same Players

The plan, announced in Boksburg, promises interventions in energy, freight transport, infrastructure, small business development and public employment. On paper, it ties into the National Development Plan, the Medium-Term Development Plan and government’s inclusive growth goals.

But that’s exactly the problem, critics say: we’ve heard this before.

Political analyst Professor Dirk Kotzé points out that Ramaphosa has introduced multiple “grand strategies” since 2018, including:

• The Presidential Economic Recovery Plan

• The Infrastructure Recovery Plan

• The Eskom Turnaround Strategy

• Operation Vulindlela

Different names, same promises and little to show for it. “He has been repackaging these plans, but in essence they are the same thing,” Kotzé explains. “There is nothing new that hasn’t already been said in the past.”

Economists Aren’t Buying It

Dawie Roodt, chief economist at the Efficient Group, didn’t mince his words: South Africa’s economy isn’t struggling because of poor policy on paper, it’s failing because of leadership paralysis.

“We don’t have a horse problem, we have a jockey problem,” he said, pointing the finger squarely at the ANC and Ramaphosa. He argues that the government keeps announcing interventions while failing to focus on the basics or implement anything consistently.

He calls the current situation “an economic emergency,” and says if blame must land somewhere, “a good place to start is the president.”

The Election Clock Is Ticking

Analysts say the sudden unveiling of the 10-point plan makes far more sense when viewed through a political lens. After suffering bruising losses in the May 2024 national polls, the ANC is under pressure heading into the next municipal elections.

Kotzé says the new plan feels like political damage control: “The party wants to demonstrate to the public that they do have a plan, although it is actually not very different from existing plans.”

The move is seen as an attempt to stabilise perceptions, not the economy.

What’s Inside the Plan?

The announced interventions include:

• Using electricity tariffs and expanded transmission networks to drive economic activity

• Reviving the freight and logistics sector

• Rebuilding the chrome and manganese industries

• Improving state capacity for managing large projects

• Strengthening local economic development and municipal infrastructure

• Expanding public employment programmes

• Supporting SMEs

• Growing provincial economies

• Diversifying trade partners

• Coordinating budget and macroeconomic policy

The ideas sound constructive, but so did the last round, and the one before that.

A Throwback to a Different Era

Many South Africans still recall the last time economic plans actually delivered results, under former President Thabo Mbeki. Growth rates hovered between 4% and 5% during the mid-2000s, before slowing dramatically under Jacob Zuma’s administration, and stagnating under Ramaphosa.

For more than a decade now, growth has barely touched 1%, even as government after government blamed load shedding, global conditions, state capture and Covid-19.

Public Reaction: “Not This Again”

Social media responses captured the public mood in one sentence: “How many plans does one country need before one works?”

Others joked that the ANC has become better at rebranding than implementing. Some supporters are hopeful, but even they admit change hinges on political will, not press conferences.

The Real Question

South Africa doesn’t lack strategies. It lacks execution. And as critics keep reminding government, plans don’t build roads, power grids or economies, people do.

So the debate now is not whether the ANC has a roadmap. It’s whether the drivers who’ve missed every turn since 2009 can suddenly get the country moving before the next vote.

And that may be the biggest ask of all.

{Source: The Citizen}

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