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Today’s release by Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) of our country’s third quarter gross domestic product performance is impetus to urgently accelerate the economic reforms South Africa needs.

The DA has written to President Ramaphosa today to table the immediate interventions needed, to make possible the right economic reforms for growth.

These are reforms that are on the working agenda, but must now be implemented without delay, and they include:

Concessioning of rail networks, and national ports to allow private sector operators to efficiently drive growth,

A competitive energy market, across the country,

Investment in energy infrastructure projects,

Water supply infrastructure investment, for water supply security and certainty.

Action on rail, ports and the competitive energy market must be accelerated and immediately implemented.

Any economic contraction is a signal to Government to work harder to reform the economy, to build on the work that has been done in the past six months.

While unemployment went down in the last quarter, economic growth can and will follow with the right interventions from President Ramaphosa.

Our country’s construction sector has delivered 176,000 new jobs, in the previous quarter, and other economic interventions like new Remote Work Visas, are steps in the right direction.

New directions in budget policy, from the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, have laid important groundwork for growth to:

Reducing Government debt, and investing in frontline services,

An end to bailouts, which have cost us hundreds of billions of rands,

A strong partnership framework with the private sector for its capabilities and investment.

Following a recent visit to our country, the International Monetary Fund noted our country’s “improving” outlook, as they forecast 1.1% economic growth this year and 1.5% next year. This follows similar reports from S&P Global and Goldman Sachs.

The DA will champion these economic interventions, so that we can see the levels of economic growth South Africa needs.

Issued by Willie Aucamp MP - DA National Spokesperson