Trade union Solidarity has released a 10-point “wish list” which it says will work to save the South African economy from junk status.
A team from global rating agency Moody’s is set to land in South Africa this week to assess the state of the country, and decide whether it should be downgraded.
The group put South Africa’s credit rating score on review earlier this month. Should the country’s rate be cut, the Moody’s score will be in line with two other ratings agencies – Fitch and Standard & Poor’s – in placing the country on the edge of junk status.
Solidarity appealed to Moody’s to not lower South Africa’s rating but rather to pressure government to grow the country’s economy, “taking it away from the abyss to prosperity”.
“Definite steps that can be taken to restore investor confidence in South Africa do exist. However, government will have to be pressured to act decisively to make a direction change away from the road heading for the abyss the economy finds itself on at the moment,” it said.
The group provided a 10-point ‘wish list’ on how the country could drag itself out of the abyss- and first and foremost: get rid of president Jacob Zuma.
1. Elect a president capable of instilling and cultivating foreign confidence.
2. Radical political statements and policies that diminish trust, such as instituting radical redistribution of land, should be stopped.
3. The government’s political rivalry with the EFF is driving South Africa into the abyss and it must cease.
4. Government interference in businesses such as the implementation of black economic empowerment is harming the economy and should rather be left to the market.
5. The violation of property rights through the implementation of expropriation legislation is damaging investor confidence and should be abandoned.
6. Government’s racial policies such as affirmative action is transforming the constitutional provision for equality into an “absolutisation of representativeness”, and this should be normalised.
7. A competent Minister in charge of local authorities should be appointed in order to ensure good governance and accountability.
8. Competence instead of race and political affiliations should once again be the most important motivation in the public sector.
9. The current rampant corruption is wasting money and destroying confidence and should be nipped in the bud immediately.
10. The government must ensure that hardworking tax payers receive value for their money by providing quality services.