Business has failed to promote a vision of a transformed economy with expanding opportunities for allPoverty and unemployment, a lack of access to basic services, the fragility of our public finances, lawlessness in parts of the state, and lack of capacity across government, long predated the Covid-19 pandemic. But they have all been on full display throughout the crisis.
Of this, half has already been spent or committed, with 75% going towards health interventions such as the purchase of personal protective equipment, the expansion of testing facilities and widening access to testing for the uninsured. Additional funds donated by wealthy individuals have helped support small firms. And large companies have made big donations to help staff and public services.
Despite a promise to seek a primary budget surplus in four years’ time, there remains no clarity about the reforms government will implement to drive the economic growth that is essential to achieve this goal.
Much of the responsibility for this lies with Jacob Zuma and his circle, who combined greed with a deep distrust of expertise. But President Cyril Ramaphosa has not imposed much greater discipline on a government whose ambitions far exceed its capabilities, where corruption continues apace, and which sprawls across too much of our social and economic landscape.
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