Tag: National Development Plan (NDP)

South Africa needs an extraordinary plan and a huge amount of political will to dig itself out of the proverbial hole we find ourselves. The ANC’s discussion document ‘Reconstruction, growth and transformation: building a new inclusive economy’, is not such a plan.

An interview with Barry Bredenkamp, General Manager Energy Efficiency, South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI), and Dr Ivor Blumenthal, CEO, ArkKonsult, discussing the Green New Deal (GND) and how harnessing its benefits can help grow the economy and create jobs in a post-COVID-19 world.

The South African economy, like many emerging and developing economies, has high levels of poverty. As with many such countries, there are three primary objectives to reducing poverty, unemployment and inequity. These three objectives take precedence over almost all other goals.

The industrial base of a country depends on a reliable supply of electricity and steel. Hence in the 1930s, South Africa developed both Eskom and Iscor, since then the economy has diversified considerably. While the industrial and mining base of the country remains dependent on reliable supplies of these primary products, the manufacturing industries, the secondary and mining sectors, in particular, also need to be developed through efficient labour and technical training.

While lockdown inadvertently helped to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, it is critically important that sustainability of the environment is at the heart of post-COVID-19 recovery efforts. This is where the much-talked about Green New Deal (GND) becomes crucial and while it’s no panacea to economic challenges, harnessing its benefits can help grow the economy and create jobs in a post-COVID-19 world.

Public sector staff expands and retail jobs disappoint. Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reported on that South Africa’s unemployment rate was unchanged at 29.1% during the fourth quarter of 2019. With this reading, South Africa has the fourth-highest unemployment rate out of 182 countries tracked by Trading Economics, after Namibia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Angola.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni delivered a macabre Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBSP) to Parliament on October 30. The MTBPS communicates to government and the people the economic context of the country and fiscal spending priorities over the coming three years. (It does not include detailed spending plans or tax proposals, which are left to the main budget in February.)

The top risk in South Africa is structurally high unemployment; followed by growing income disparity and inequality, according to the 2019 IRMSA Risk Report.

A Green Economy can be defined as a system of economic activities related to the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services that result in improved human well-being over the long term, while not exposing future generations to significant environmental risks or ecological scarcities.

The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) is delivering a steady stream of qualified CAs(SA) from previously disadvantaged groups into the financial and accounting sector through its Thuthuka Nation Building project, transforming the profession while building our nation in line with the vision of the National Development Plan (NDP).