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Johannesburg - South African companies are stifled by all kinds of anti-free market and anti-business legislation and are now finding greener pastures in other African countries and overseas, the Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut (AHi) warned on Thursday.
The free fall of the rand, slowdown in manufacturing, the high oil price and continued labour unrest pose a serious threat to the South African economy, according to the business body.
"Sadly, senior political leaders continue to label our entrepreneurs, companies and investors as unscrupulous 'bosses' who do not care about the working class," the AHi said in a statement.
"This oversimplification of a highly complex economic environment and lack of deeper understanding of the factors that drive an economy are now coming back to haunt us."
The AHi says it is, therefore, no wonder that South African businesses are finding it harder and harder to operate in South Africa and are seeking greener pastures outside the country's borders.
"For as long as leading politicians keep on spewing populist rhetoric and show no appreciation for the crucial role of business in a developing economy such as ours, our socio-economic challenges and especially unemployment will become worse," the AHi said.
"Tough economic times await South Africans and the only way to overcome it, is to focus on the basic fundamentals of an open economy, to call off strikes in the mining sector, to incentivise local manufacturing and subsidise local agriculture, to stop imposing anti-business legislation, and for politicians to refrain from populist rhetoric and calls for nationalisation."
The AHi said South Africans must realise that there is no short cut to wealth creation and that nationalisation is a fallacy.
Sustainable wealth creation is a long term process and is produced through high levels of innovation, skills and knowledge, investment of capital, investment in labour, availability and clever use of resources, entrepreneurship, management and visionary and ethical leadership, continuous technological advances and productivity.
"Only existing wealth can be nationalised. Such nationalisation will, however, have a devastating impact on the creation of future wealth," the organisation said.
This is because such future wealth is less likely to be created if entrepreneurs, investors and business know they will be nationalised.
"The greatest challenge any society that embarks on a programme of full scale nationalisation faces, is the potential loss of human capital, especially those people with advanced skills and knowledge that are likely to start a business," said the AHi.
The free fall of the rand, slowdown in manufacturing, the high oil price and continued labour unrest pose a serious threat to the South African economy, according to the business body.
"Sadly, senior political leaders continue to label our entrepreneurs, companies and investors as unscrupulous 'bosses' who do not care about the working class," the AHi said in a statement.
"This oversimplification of a highly complex economic environment and lack of deeper understanding of the factors that drive an economy are now coming back to haunt us."
The AHi says it is, therefore, no wonder that South African businesses are finding it harder and harder to operate in South Africa and are seeking greener pastures outside the country's borders.
"For as long as leading politicians keep on spewing populist rhetoric and show no appreciation for the crucial role of business in a developing economy such as ours, our socio-economic challenges and especially unemployment will become worse," the AHi said.
"Tough economic times await South Africans and the only way to overcome it, is to focus on the basic fundamentals of an open economy, to call off strikes in the mining sector, to incentivise local manufacturing and subsidise local agriculture, to stop imposing anti-business legislation, and for politicians to refrain from populist rhetoric and calls for nationalisation."
The AHi said South Africans must realise that there is no short cut to wealth creation and that nationalisation is a fallacy.
Sustainable wealth creation is a long term process and is produced through high levels of innovation, skills and knowledge, investment of capital, investment in labour, availability and clever use of resources, entrepreneurship, management and visionary and ethical leadership, continuous technological advances and productivity.
"Only existing wealth can be nationalised. Such nationalisation will, however, have a devastating impact on the creation of future wealth," the organisation said.
This is because such future wealth is less likely to be created if entrepreneurs, investors and business know they will be nationalised.
"The greatest challenge any society that embarks on a programme of full scale nationalisation faces, is the potential loss of human capital, especially those people with advanced skills and knowledge that are likely to start a business," said the AHi.
