The time had come for government and business to find ways and means of working together to end South Africa’s current economic stagflation crisis, United Nations Commission for Africa (UNCA) mineral value chain lead consultant, anti-apartheid struggle veteran and former African National Congress MP Ben Turok said on Monday.
Turok, speaking at an economic policy dialogue in Pretoria hosted by the DTI, said South Africa’s sometimes aggressive and hostile legislation was preventing cooperation between government and business, which was essential for the functioning of the economy.
“We’re in the doldrums in policy. Parliament is not able to create an environment where these two large sectors can work together,” he said, adding that the drafting of the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act Amendment Bill had been a mistake.
Turok said South African companies were now investing more outside of South Africa than inside the country, which was a sign of an uncoordinated economy.
“The time has come for us to say this is a mixed economy in which the State and the private sector have to find ways and means of working together, each from their positions of strength, mutual respect and understanding”.
