DA's Plan for Growth and Jobs - Democratic Alliance

More documents

Recommendations

Info

A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR ALLWe have an ethical responsibility to ensure that our country’s economy creates jobs andopportunities not only for the current generation, but for generations to come. This requiresthat we take proactive measure to ensure that economic growth is sustainable in the longterm.South Africa faces a number of significant resource and environment-related constraintswhich, if not managed carefully, could limit the future growth of the economy. Climatechange also poses a number of cross-cutting challenges, and its effects are likely to hit poorcommunities, particularly in rural and coastal areas, the hardest.Two resources pose fundamental challenges to the ability of the South African economy tocreate jobs and opportunities in the future: energy and water. Already, energy is in shortsupply. Poor planning and low levels of investment, coupled with an inefficient statemonopoly in the form of Eskom, has lead to a situation where electricity supply issimultaneously insecure and increasingly expensive.On the one hand, businesses are reluctant to make further investments and expand theiroperations because they fear further disruptions to electricity supply. On the other, money isbeing taken out of consumer’s pockets (in the form of exorbitant tariff hikes) to fundinfrastructure upgrades that the state should have completed years ago. Both issues imposeconstraints on economic growth and job creation.Water, the second fundamental resource, is essential for human life, and is a key input for adiverse array of economic sectors, from agriculture to mining, manufacturing to tourism.As a consequence of our geography, semi-arid climate, dilapidated infrastructure, andinefficient distribution system, it too is in short supply. Only 35% of the country receives morethan 500mm of rain per year, with 21% of the country receiving less than 200mm of rain peryear.For many poor and rural communities, which in the past have been inadequately servedbecause of the spatial planning priorities of the apartheid government, water quality andaccess continues to be a problem.Exacerbating both these resource constraints are the interrelated challenges posed byclimate change and pollution.While it is clear that careful planning is required to mitigate the impact of climate change,particularly on vulnerable communities and sectors, it is equally true that tackling thesechallenges has the potential to unlock new economic opportunities in emerging ‘greenindustries’ such as solar water heater manufacturing.Achieving sustainable economic growth that creates wealth and opens up job opportunitiesfor future generations of South Africans will require that we develop smarter ways to manageour natural resources by living within our means, putting our country’s energy security backon track, and tackling climate change and pollution in ways that creates, rather than limits,economic opportunities for people.In policy terms, this means adopting a transversal approach to natural resourcesmanagement; separating Eskom’s different functions and expediting procurement fromindependent power producers; making key investments in water storage and distributioninfrastructure; and introducing measures to help entrepreneurs and communities participatein tackling climate change.79 | P a g e
CORE CHALLENGESUncoordinated natural resource managementWater shortage, access and qualityHigh carbon emissions and pollutionSecurity of energy supplyImpact of climate changeNo systematic evaluation of environmental resourcesPOLICY OUTCOMESTransversal approach to resource managementSustainability of water supplyReduce carbon emissions and pollutionEnhance energy capacityPlan for impacts of climate changeDevelop a plan for a system of natural capital accountingSouth Africa in International Environmental Performance Index (rank out of 132)CountryGlobal RankZambia 57Tanzania 64Botswana 66Cote d’Ivoire 67Kenya 83Ghana 91Sudan 104Nigeria 119Eritrea 122South Africa 128Table 15: The Environment Performance Index, a report produced by scientists and policyexperts at Yale and Columbia universities ranks South Africa 128 out of 132 countriessurveyed. This is only four places ahead of Iraq, a country that has suffered two destructivewars in the past 20 years. The report reveals that South Africa's air and water quality,biodiversity, the functioning of its ecosystems, and its agricultural and fishery systems, hasseriously deteriorated with detrimental consequences for long-term social and economicdevelopment. Source: Yale University80 | P a g e
Page 1 and 2:
The DA’s Plan for Growth and Jobs
Page 4 and 5:
Foreword by Helen Zille, Leader of
Page 6 and 7:
Foreword by Wilmot James, Federal C
Page 8 and 9:
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMSB
Page 10 and 11:
PreambleThe 8% Growth Project is th
Page 12 and 13:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARYBreaking down barr
Page 14 and 15:
A preferable, more nuanced approach
Page 16 and 17:
The DA’s policy proposals in this
Page 18 and 19:
Engage Africa as a strategic econom
Page 20 and 21:
This high unemployment underpins wi
Page 22 and 23:
operative government’. The separa
Page 24 and 25:
South Africa growth in GDP, 2000 to
Page 26 and 27:
The situation is exacerbated by pol
Page 28 and 29:
elieves that, with our rich mineral
Page 30 and 31: Inefficient resource allocation: Re
Page 32 and 33: credit, while the employees of thes
Page 34 and 35: have the intended effect. In develo
Page 36 and 37: FISCAL AND MONETARY POLICY PRIORITI
Page 38 and 39: Presidency and VIP security have in
Page 40 and 41: OPENING JOB OPPORTUNITIES TO ALLThe
Page 42 and 43: LONG-TERM POLICY PROPOSALSPolicy ou
Page 44 and 45: Policy outcome: Flexibility in labo
Page 46 and 47: an accredited V-TAP Certificate. Th
Page 48 and 49: SA’s global education rankingsInd
Page 50 and 51: BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS TO INCLUSION
Page 52 and 53: shareholders, and any employee alre
Page 54 and 55: SA Sports AcademyEstablish a world-
Page 56 and 57: (b) Specify that the annual financi
Page 58 and 59: Small Business Growth: A Key Driver
Page 60 and 61: Breaking down the barriers that kee
Page 62 and 63: and (ii) registering the Title Deed
Page 64 and 65: E-government in Africa (global rank
Page 66 and 67: Internet users in South Africa and
Page 68 and 69: Policy outcome: Improved state effi
Page 70 and 71: In the interests of sustaining stro
Page 74 and 75: Simplify import and export procedur
Page 76 and 77: Assessment Unit, located in the Pre
Page 78 and 79: The DA in Government: ‘No Frills
Page 84 and 85: MEDIUM-TERM POLICY PROPOSALSPolicy
Page 86 and 87: CONCLUSIONSouth Africa’s economy
Page 88: than limit, economic opportunities
show all

DA's Plan for Growth and Jobs - Democratic Alliance

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?