Tag: Economic Freedom of the World (EFW)

The results are in. The African National Congress has attained 40% of the vote, the Democratic Alliance (DA) 21%, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) 14%, and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) 9%. It is clear that some of these parties enjoy too much support in the context of a country that claims to be a constitutional state that prioritises the rule of law and which requires massive foreign and domestic private investment.

Read our exclusive cover story titled The price of populism? - the rule of law, economic freedom & social progress by Martin van Staden, Head of Policy, Free Market Foundation, plus a host of other topical management articles written by professionals, consultants and academics.

South Africa’s long march away from economic freedom continues in 2023, Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) index reveals. The 2023 Economic Freedom of the World annual report reveals that South Africa has dropped to 94th, down one place from its ranking of 93rd last year, out of the 165 countries analysed.

The messaging from the State of the Nation Address (SONA), hosted 10 February 2022 for the first time outside the halls of Parliament, was both encouraging and disheartening. We are glad to hear the President, the Chief of the Executive, unequivocally state that the body responsible for job creation was not government, but rather, the private sector.

For millennia the dominant thinking throughout human society was, ‘force over voluntary interactions.’ Regardless of the country, the adage of ‘might makes right’ was the guiding rule upon which people interacted with each other.

Read our exclusive cover story titled THE RULE OF LAW & THE WISDOM OF THE AGES by Chris Hattingh, Deputy Head of Campaigns, South African Institute of Race Relations, as well a host of other topical management articles written by professionals, consultants and academics in the February/March 2022 edition of BusinessBrief.

South Africa ranks 90th out of 162 countries and territories included in the Economic Freedom of the World: 2020 Annual Report, released today by the Free Market Foundation in conjunction with Canada’s Fraser Institute.

Promoting his seminal book, South Africa’s war against Capitalism, the economist Professor Walter Williams averred that “The solution to South Africa’s problems is not special programmes, it’s not affirmative action, it’s not handouts, and it’s not welfare. It is freedom. Because if you look around the world and you look for rich people, diverse people who have the ability to get along fairly well, you are also looking at a society where there are relatively large amounts of individual freedom”.

The probability of a credit rating downgrade from Moody’s does not necessarily equal ‘good’ news for SA’s economic prospects. It is merely the calm before the storm. It would be good news if SA had embarked on one or two of the required reforms – however, this has yet to happen. This temporary reprieve from Moody’s gives SA time to implement some of the changes required to right a seriously listing ship.

Finance minister Tito Mboweni’s new economic strategy paper is a refreshing, much needed breath of fresh air for an economy struggling for oxygen. The paper is replete with common sense proposals all aimed at achieving the economic growth South Africa desperately needs. We have been stumbling along a low-growth path of high taxes, kilometres of red-tape, wealth redistribution, and anti-individualism for far too long. If Mboweni’s paper can be taken as a true step in a new direction, a direction of more individual freedom, South Africa will see green shoots of recovery almost immediately.