Instead of focusing on economic growth, ANC leaders are fighting for positions — Mcebisi Jonas

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Former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas has criticised the ANC leadership over their battle for positions in the lead-up to the party’s December elective conference instead of focusing on South Africa’s economic crisis.

Speaking at the Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation Inclusive Dialogue Forum in the Drakensberg on Saturday, Jonas said that the 1994 consensus had reached its sell-by date and that the governing party was yet to articulate a new exchange that encapsulated trade-offs between elites and the poor.

He said that at the centre of the new exchange should be an innovative and entrepreneurial stratum to replace the traditional and aspirant rent-seeking incumbents. 

“The ANC is two months away from its 55th national elective conference and while jockeying for positions is the biggest show in town, there is no intelligible engagement among leaders and members of the governing party on the multiple crises threatening the future of our country. Similarly, opposition parties are out of ideas.” 

Jonas also took a swipe at the electoral amendment bill which was passed in Parliament this week, calling it deficient and constitutionally flawed. 

He said that the country needed a fundamental rethink of the electoral system, which has created a crisis of political accountability. 

“I do not see how elected representatives will change their tendency to kowtow to the whims of their political parties unless the system changes to make them more accountable to their constituents,” Jonas said.

“Any agenda for change must incorporate a mass mobilisation campaign for electoral reform and we must all intensify the efforts by civil society organisations campaigning for a more constituency-based system of government.” 

Parliament passed the controversial bill following a 2020 constitutional court judgment declaring the party-list system unconstitutional in that it did not allow individuals or independent candidates to stand for election at a national and provincial level.

South Africa has operated under a proportional representation (PR) system for all of its democratic history. But the Constitution enshrines the right of every citizen to stand for elected office and there have been various calls since the 1994 elections for the country to move to some form of a constituency model.

The bill was passed with 232 votes, supported by the ANC, Economic Freedom Fighters, Pan Africanist Congress and National Freedom Party after months of complaints from other opposition parties about how the manner in which vote allocation will happen is fraught and unfair.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) did not support the measure, nor did the United Democratic Movement, the African Transformation Movement or the GOOD Party.

“We cannot continue to hold our noses when we vote, or worse, not vote at all. We must think seriously about political agency. Around the world, people are crying out for a new political order that is responsive to the current conditions. Why should we be any different? 

“Besides, loyalty should be earned, not taken for granted. We should be concerned about the danger of rising populist politics and the equally dangerous concept of a messiah leading us to the promised land. The truth of the matter is that there needs to be hard work, driven by the people in this room in partnership with civil society, business, religious leaders, youth and labour to develop a new national vision and agenda for change,” Jonas said. 

He cautioned that South Africa’s trajectory was unsustainable and edging to a precipice. “The warning lights are flashing on all key economic and social indices and yet the only new idea gaining momentum across political lines is to attack and scapegoat foreign nationals and the Constitution,” he said. 

The former ANC leader rose to prominence when he became a whistleblower during former president Jacob Zuma’s administration. He alleged that he was offered millions by the infamous Gupta family to replace finance minister Pravin Gordhan as finance minister, as long as he would do the bidding of the Guptas. 

In his address over the weekend, he went on to sharply criticise President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government for what Jonas termed PR exercises and empty announcements that “cannot deliver growth and should be discouraged”. 

Arguing that economic growth should be a central focus of all sectors of society, the now MTN board chairperson said that growing the economy requires active and tangible measures to deal with the energy crisis, rising crime levels and regulatory impediments to investment. 

“There is a kind of chicken-and-egg scenario in which investment is required for growth, but a low growth environment also means less investment. There are still strong concerns about corruption, despite the progress we are making in bringing crooks to book. We need to turn this around in our favour. 

“Rather than chasing the one or two mega-investments, we should be multiplying thousands of smaller investments to grow a new entrepreneurial stratum. Green industrialisation and digitalisation also offer significant new opportunities, as does our continental integration, if we get the policies and execution capabilities in place.” 

Jonas also called for the government to focus on tackling inequality, arguing that the country would forever be susceptible to violent insurrection. 

With South Africa having been the most unequal of the 164 countries benchmarked by the World Bank, Jonas said that the state needed an expansion of social protection in the short term as it builds a black entrepreneurial stratum that creates wealth through productivity and innovation, rather than through political connections. 

“The private sector and banks must realise that South Africa will continue to be a tinderbox unless they take deliberate actions to transform the economy. Our predicament in the immediate term is how to ramp up fiscal redistribution in the context of fiscal constraints, and how to encourage market co-creation and financial inclusion where there is still mistrust between social partners,” he said.   

Jonas said that corruption, at local government level, remained at the heart of the government’s inability to build a capable state and attract high-performing professionals into public service.