With the right policies in place to get the economy growing, South Africa ‘would be unrecognisable in a decade or two and be much happier than it is now’, according to Dr John Endres, CEO of the Institute of Race Relations (IRR).
He was speaking in a webinar on the content of his paper, Arming SA’s Pro-growth Forces, the first of the IRR’s Blueprint for Growth series, published yesterday.
In a statement, the IRR said the series would present ‘comprehensive policy solutions that chart a viable path to economic growth in South Africa’.
Dr Endres said in yesterday’s seminar that ‘(driving) economic growth is probably the most radically transformative thing that South Africa can do to change the country’s trajectory and the outcomes, and it should be the main focus of politics’.
He pointed out that economic growth of 1.2% since 2008 ‘has been anaemic and is way too low to make a dent in unemployment or boost incomes’. As a result, ‘South Africans are frustrated and wonder what their prospects are, with little way of improving their lives’.
South Africa’s GDP per capita was ‘trending downwards’ in global terms, ranking at only 77% of world GDP per capita.
Dr Endres said: ‘We need higher growth rates to catch up, and for that, we need better policies.’
By adopting policies geared to attracting investors, stimulating – and reducing threats to – business, growing demand for jobs, and making it easier for people to get work, it would be possible to lift the growth rate to 7%.
Though ‘ambitious’, this was the figure ‘we should be aiming for’, as it would enable South Africa to double the size of its economy in 10 years. At the present growth rate, it would take 58 years for the economy to double in size, ‘and we would fall even further behind’.
Read the full report here.