Manuel: SA must diversify

Johannesburg - South Africa's economy needs to create entrepreneurs so it can lessen its dependence on commodities, said Finance Minister Trevor Manuel on Wednesday.

"We must diversify. But that is up to the entrepreneurs. Unfortunately governments are bad at producing entrepreneurs," Manuel told black business professionals at an event organised by the ruling ANC.

He said South Africa, which has the largest platinum deposits in the world, had "not progressed much" beyond commodity exports.

Thousand of jobs in the mining industry are on the line as a downturn in the global economy has slashed demand for South African metal exports and as prices have declined.

Manuel did not answer a question about whether the government had concrete plans to help struggling companies due to the international downturn.

The government had previously said it would use state-owned development financial institutions to help sectors battered by the global downturn.

In his budget speech in February, Manuel committed about R780bn in infrastructure spending to help boost the economy, shifting the budget to a deficit for the first time in three years.

When asked about the deficit he said: "It's not the size that matters... you can run it up (but) that does not help anybody. You are impoverishing this generation and the coming generation."

Manuel spoke to the black professionals as part of the ANC's election campaign ahead of national elections on April 22.

- Reuters