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SA can no longer blame others

Cape Town - South Africa can no longer blame the global situation for the country's stagnating economy and should look for the cause closer to home, warned Agri SA president Johannes Möller on Monday.

"It does not require exceptional knowledge and insight to understand that the economy is currently characterised by serious deficiencies,” said Möller.

SA's economy could grow by less than 2% this year, with inflation tending to significantly exceed the targets set by the SA Reserve Bank (Sarb).

"The difference between today and especially the recent past is that the economic deterioration can no longer be attributed largely to the international situation," he said.

"We now have to look to ourselves for the cause.

According to Möller, the strikes in the mining industry were clearly the most visible contributor to the poor economy, but there are also structural shortcomings that should not be ignored.

“Our labour dispensation and well-founded criticism in this regard, can no longer be justified based solely on the past," he said.

"Negative perceptions in this regard and the clear unwillingness of investors to invest directly in the country, indicate that arguments based on the past simply no longer hold water.”

Recent growth figures show that construction and services relating to the fixed property sector not only show growth, but also make a considerable contribution to the economy.

"It is not clear whether the government realises that success in these sectors is linked to security of property rights and clear rules for the expropriation thereof," he said.

"Obviously, investment and production in the agricultural sector also depend on such an approach.”

Issues, such as high unemployment, poor service delivery, corruption, weak governance, the state’s increasing involvement in the economy, the 16 million people who depend on welfare grants and the visible breach of trust between the business sector and the state, should simply not be allowed to become part of the day-to-day existence of South African citizens, in his view.

"This would be socially and economically catastrophic,” said Möller.

According to Möller, the fact that agriculture is a relatively small economic sector does not mean that the performance of the general economy should be any less important for this sector.

“Prosperous consumers, with job opportunities as basic prerequisite, also determine the welfare of the agricultural sector. Therefore, we would like to be part of the solution to these challenging issues," he said.

"This, however, will require honest introspection from all role players, followed by swift action.”

He said solutions to problems are not necessarily obvious, but it has become necessary to discuss the National Development Plan in depth and to implement the agreed-upon actions without further delay.


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