On the radical, second phase of the transition: Some Brief Comments By Yunus Carrim, SACP Politburo Member The struggle for national liberation was increasingly waged for both political and economic liberation. The links between the political and economic aspects of liberation are there in the Freedom Charter, and most explicitly set out in the ANCs 1969 Morogoro Conference. Among the many references to this in the Conferences Strategy and Tactics document is that the struggle was aimed at the complete political and economic emancipation of all our people and the constitution of a society, which accords, with the basic provisions of our programme - the Freedom Charter. So it was long, long before the EFF recently surfaced to claim the space for economic freedom solely for itself, that ANC members under the most brutal conditions of apartheid and at huge personal and collective cost waged the struggle for economic freedom. The struggle for economic freedom is an endemic part of the ANCs ongoing national liberation struggle. Of course, the EFF knows this. Most of their members come from the ANC anyway. So its very hard to argue that the ANCs stress in the next five years on economic liberation is simply to outflank the EFF. You certainly werent there in 1955. And you werent there in 1969 either. So really! Yes, yes, the world has changed dramatically since the ANCs 1969 Conference. But the need for economic liberation hasnt. 20 years into our democracy it has become more urgent. We have, of course, made significant progress since 1994. But we still have a long way to go. And the way to go, as the ANC and government have made clear, is into a second, more radical phase of our transition to a national democratic society. The President in his recent Inaugural Address, no less, made it very clear that this second phase will involve the implementation of radical socio-economic transformation policies and programmes over the next five years. Economic transformation, he said will take centre-stage during this new term of government as we put the economy on an inclusive growth path. He repeated this in his SONA address yesterday. Of course, as has been made clear, this second phase, cannot be mechanically separated from the first. Just as you cannot mechanically separate the economic and political aspects of the national democratic struggle. Its that the emphasis is now going to be much more on the economic aspects. And the progress made these past 20 years provides the basis for the second phase. By the radical phase of the transition we are referring to more directly and systematically addressing the structural constraints of the economy and more decisively tackling the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality in our society. By radical we mean addressing the roots of the problem. And by radical we mean too decisive action to achieve our political and economic goals. So with the new radical phase, we are speaking both of content and, crucially, action. We are speaking of a new determination to get things done - faster, more efficiently, more effectively. An important part of the structural constraint relates to the way in which our economy integrated into the global economy, as a supplier of natural resources and with our over-dependency on the mining and finance sectors and the inadequate development of our manufacturing sector. These constraints trap our economy in a low-growth, low-investment, high-inequality and high-unemployment cycle. Overcoming the structural problems and binding constraints requires structural solutions to transform the trajectory of economic growth, further industrialise the South African economy and accelerate social development. Over time, we will have to break out of this structural constraint, and various aspects of the programme of economic restructuring will contribute to this. The focus on re-ndustrialisation will be a key part of this. So too will the more rapid and systematic implementation of the National Infrastructure Plan. For much of the past 20 years weve been focussing mainly on economic growth, not enough on economic transformation. Now we need to look more at transformation, but transformation that will be a source of growth, and shape the kind of growth and who benefits from it - and not simply established capital, but, crucially, emerging black capital too. As the ANCs Mangaung resolution points out, the changes necessary will not emerge spontaneously from the free hand of the market. The state has to play a leading and decisive role to ensure this. It has to win over the broadest cross-section of society to play an effective role in this and also crowd in private investment. This means we have to build our capacity to be a more effective democratic developmental state. Building the capacity of, and for, a progressive state is a crucial aspect of driving the second phase of our transition. This means too effective deployment of state owned enterprises and development finance institutions, which need to complement the State in promoting inclusive economic growth. All of this is not to say, that the crucial role of the private sector is not recognised. On the contrary, the President made clear last night the efforts being made and to be made to win the confidence and support of the private sector for the second phase of the transition The NDP, complemented by the NGP and IPAP, provides the framework for the second phase of the transition. Aspects of this phase will involve accelerating the pace of delivery of existing programmes; other aspects will entail new ways of implementing existing programmes, and there will also be new programmes. The ANCs Election Manifesto is clear: the radical second phase of our transition must bring about the economic emancipation of our people. ….In the next five years, despite the global economic outlook, we are determined to act decisively and boldly to increase investment in the real economy and infrastructure, stimulate faster levels of inclusive growth, speed up social development, substantially reduce poverty and unemployment, and place the economy on a qualitatively different growth path. The ANCs Mangaung resolution on economic transformation notes: The ANCs economic vision rests on the Freedom Charters call that the people shall share in South Africas wealth. Through economic transformation we intend to build an equitable society in which there is decent work for all. The resolution goes on to note that: We intend to transform the structure of the economy through industrialisation, broad-based black economic empowerment, addressing the basic needs of our people, including women and youth, strengthening and expanding the role of the state and the role of state owned enterprises …..Now we heard today from the Deputy Speaker of Parliament that Mr Maimane is the new Leader of the Opposition. I wonder if Mr Malema recognises the Mr Maimane as his leader? The brand new Leader of the Opposition, the posterboy boy of the suburbs, delivering his maiden speech, said the President had disappointed him. He said he was hoping for bold new ideas. But what did Mr Maimane offer instead? The same old lamentations, the same old suburban whining, the same well-coached culture of pessimism. A new Leader of the DA with nothing new to say. Wow! What a not-new start. Now we have Mr Malema beginning his maiden speech by speaking on behalf of the indebted in South Africa. Of course, he carefully forgot to speak on behalf of his debt to the SA Revenue Service! On Nelson Mandela Day, I suggest you clean up your own indebtedness - rather than exercise your mediocre carpentry skills on school building. Back to what matters. The implementation of the key recommendations of the SIMS report on mining should be considered, particularly the greater beneficiation of our natural resources and industrialization, and set-asides at a favourable price of key commodities for local energy production, such as coal and gas and industrial manufacturing, such as iron ore and manganese. The exploitation of minerals must optimise their developmental impact, especially job creation, across the economy. Mining should catalyse broader industrialisation through the realisation of all the potential backward and forward linkages, including a much greater degree of beneficiation. SAs competitive advantage is our abundant mineral resources. However, for over a century the major mining and financial interests that have dominated mining in our country have locked us into a growth path that relies heavily on exporting un-beneficiated primary resources extracted through cheap - and still today, often, contract - labour. In many respects this pattern continues. The overweening dominance of monopoly finance and mining conglomerates within our economy has had many negative impacts - including the stifling of our manufacturing sector. With the downgrading by two international ratings agencies the print media has been filled with articles about what Business says. But if you read the articles carefully you will quickly realise that business is not a monolithic reality. For some CEOs, the over-riding imperative is maximising dividends for foreign shareholders in South African mines or in companies like SASOL. But that over-riding imperative is likely to be in conflict with local manufacturing interests, for instance. Through the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act and its amendments we have taken important steps forward to leverage our mineral resources for industrialisation, job creation and shared growth. The mining conglomerates no longer own the mineral resources - the Act declares, rightfully, that all the mineral resources below the ground belong to the people of SA as a whole, with government acting as custodian. Private mining companies receive time-bound mining rights in exchange for fulfilling certain conditions. Last year, amendments to the Act took us important steps forward, by empowering government to declare certain minerals strategic and to ensure that a percentage of the output of these strategic minerals is made available for local beneficiation. Thats an important step forward that will help to turn around the de-industrialisation of our economy. However, as we consolidate the second phase of the transition we need to consider further amendments to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act. There should not only be domestic market set-asides of strategic minerals - but also domestic prices for these quotas. It makes no sense that local industry is often forced to procure iron ore, or manganese, or coal as if these inputs had come all the way from Australia or Papua New Guinea! As the National Development Plan outlines, the structure of the economy will be transformed through industrialisation, broad-based black economic empowerment and through strengthening and expanding the role of the state in the economy. The NDP is clear about the need for participation of the fullest range of the people and stakeholders of our country. The state cannot on its own effectively implement the second phase of the transition. We need the active participation of the people. Not just this, but the concerted involvement of key stakeholders such as business and the trade unions. We need a massive united effort to implement the second phase of the transition. Theres a role for all of us to play in this, whatever our political backgrounds. Find this role. And play your part to the fullest! - See more at: sacp.org.za/main.php?ID=4328#sthash.qyZsvGS6.dpuf
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 08:34:17 +0000
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