Business Times writes that economists and business leaders have cautioned that President Cyril Ramaphosa's economic recovery and reconstruction plan is overly focused on short-term public employment creation, with not enough to stimulate job creation by the private sector.
Critics also say that the long-awaited plan provides few clues on how the government plans to deliver on its commitment to curb soaring public debt levels – or to turn around its poor record on implementation. The plan reiterated several reform promises and initiatives previously announced, such as a huge infrastructure investment drive, and set ambitious new targets to achieve energy security within two years. It also extended the Covid special social grants by three months, affirmed a "buy local" plan that had already been agreed at Nedlac to re-industrialise SA, and provided some detail on the first year of a R100bn three-year public employment package. The job opportunities, many of which will apparently last for no more than four or five months, include an expansion of existing public works programmes and new programmes that Ramaphosa said would respond to local community priorities. Absa economist Peter Worthington commented: "There was virtually nothing said on what the government would do to help the private sector create jobs, nor any clarity on how an expanded public employment programme would dovetail with the need to sharply cut overall public spending." Ramaphosa's plan comes just two weeks before Finance Minister Tito Mboweni presents his medium-term budget on 28 October, which was postponed last week from 21 October.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Hilary Joffe at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
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