Emboldened by the disruption caused by the lockdown, the National Executive Council (NEC) of the African National Congress (ANC), has drafted a recovery plan is approved at the NEC’s meeting on Friday 29 May 2020
The document was produced by the ANC, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South Africa Trade Unions. Accordinf to the Sunday Times SACP leader Solly Mapaila said that the crisis provided the opportunity for the state to be “empowered” to “discipline capital and the private sector” which was at its “weakest”.
Mapaila was quoted as saying the government must reposition its “terms of engagement” with business using conditions for the relief funds being offered to business.
“We want a much more assertive state which is not cajoled or bullied by the private sector.”
The NEC instructed Enoch Godongwana, head of the ANC’s economic transformation committee, to develop a recovery plan to save jobs. The Treasury projects that about 7 million people could lose their jobs, with the ANC at the centre.
“What people are discussing in that document is state institutions can play a critical role- because of their current capacity- in the creation of a pharmaceutical company,” said Godongwana
Another proposal is that if a company acquires a South African mine, and that mine contributes 40% of the group’s revenue, the company must have its primary listing in South Africa. The ANC reportedly wants a South African “champion” mining company.
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