Cape Town - South Africa's latest gross domestic product (GDP) figures are an indictment on SA big business "that continues with its investment strike", the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) said in reaction to the latest data released by Statistics SA on Tuesday.
It shows that SA’s economy grew by 1.3% in 2015, down from 1.5% in 2014 and 2.2% in 2013.
"These GDP numbers are an indictment on big business and show that they have no developmental consciousness and are not invested in the future of this country," the union said.
It is worrying to Cosatu that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's Budget 2016 speech "seemed to be entrenching an austerity mode at a time, when we need economic stimulation".
In the union's view, this is made worse by what it calls big business continuing to be "on an investment strike" and also continuing "to take their profits out of the country".
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The fact that the one sector that saw the biggest increase in growth was the financial sector shows the structural problems in the SA economy, in Cosatu's view, and the need for a far bolder programme of diversification and industrialisation.
"This validates the case that Cosatu has been making that there is deliberate financialisation of our economy. This is not the solution and will have adverse effects on our overall economy long term. We need to grow the economy in areas that create decent and sustainable jobs," the union cautioned.
The agriculture sector contracted by 8.4% - the largest annual fall in agriculture production since 1995.
"The impact of the drought in the shrinking of the agricultural sector is deeply worrying and raises questions about food security in the country and also makes urgent the need for the finalisation of the expropriation bill, that was passed by the National Assembly recently," Cosatu said in a statement.
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"The domination of the agriculture sector by few mainly white commercial farmers cannot be allowed to continue. People need land in order to participate in the economy and we still reiterate our call for a state bank that will help with government’s developmental agenda."
The electricity, gas and water supply industry also shrank in size and the manufacturing sector flatlined. All the sectors that have grown have seen some very marginal growth and this does not bode well for employment creation and poverty reduction, Cosatu emphasised.
In the union's view, the contraction of the electricity and gas supply industry makes urgent the need for government to invest and encourage investment in the renewable energy sector.
"This will not only allow the working class and poor to gain access to clean, affordable and reliable energy, but will create much needed jobs and help in stimulating the economy," said Cosatu.
It added that the stagnation of the manufacturing sector also calls for government to use incentives like subsidies, quotas and tariff hikes to encourage investment in the local manufacturing industry.
THe union said the infrastructure development programme should help in strengthening local industries by increasing local content of the infrastructure development projects.
"Now more than ever, government needs to intensify its investments and infrastructure drives in the economy. All departments and municipalities must play their role and contribute decisively towards creating the 100 000 new jobs we need per month. Job creation is the only way to spur and sustain economic growth and to ensure the redistribution of wealth in a meaningful way," Cosatu concluded.
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