OPINION
South Africa ’ s economy will be stuck unless there ’ s new political alignment
By Mzukisi Qobo
Mzukisi Qobo Associate Professor at the Institute for Pan African Thought and Conversation ,
University of Johannesburg
The country is clearly in desperate need of a new deal to win back confidence .
The fundamental problem confronting South Africa today is a political culture that is defective and out of kilter with the needs of the majority of the people . Innovative thinking about transforming the economy is stunted by political infighting at the top , indecision on crucial policy issues , grid-lock in departments key to the economy , and a president who is out of depth on the economy .
There is thus no alignment of interests between political elites and the public . This is having a damaging effect on the public ’ s confidence in political leadership . This in turn affects economic performance . Many government departments that form the pivot of an economic cluster , which was set up to co-ordinate policies , suffer from atrophy . The cluster is made up of more than a dozen departments , including the National Treasury , economic development and minerals and energy .
The country is clearly in desperate need of a new deal to win back confidence . But this won ’ t be easy given the intricate connection between the
quality of leadership and the performance of the economy . The economy is likely to remain on a knife edge for some time in view of the possible sov-
Protesters call for the removal of South African President Jacob Zuma . Civil society has a major role to play in South Africa .
14 Business Times Africa | 2016