Voter's guide: economy

The first instalment of our Voter's Guide came under fire for only comparing the manifestos of four parties. While we admit that it is somewhat misleading to call a guide comprehensive if it covers less than half of the options on offer, there were some fairly compelling reasons for doing so.

First up: brevity. If you struggled to make it through a single manifesto, how likely are you to trawl through pages and pages of comparative literature? Secondly, three of the four parties that we do cover in our guide garnered 89 percent of the vote in the last elections. Of the remaining 11 parties, none won a significant enough proportion of the vote to warrant an in-depth analysis. We decided to include Cope because their support base has not, as yet, been tested.

So, on to the matter at hand: the economy. Has the ANC been hijacked by the alliance partners? Why is the DA the only party that says anything about taxes? And where does Cope really stand on the matter of Affirmative Action?

General policy statements

ANC: "fiscal and monetary policy mandates, including management of interest rates and exchange rates need to actively promote creation of decent employment, economic growth, broad-based industrialisation, reduced income inequality and other development imperatives".

DA: "would ensure that fiscal and monetary policy acts not so as to control economic activity, but to attract labour-creating investment through price stability, a competitive tax regime and appropriate government expenditure".

IFP: "does not advocate unbridled, laissez faire capitalism associated with a minimalist state. We recognise the imperatives driving our need to be a developmental state, but this does not imply an over-interventionist state whose actions unnecessarily limit the growth potential of our economy".

Cope: promises "to promote competitiveness and enhance the productive capacity of the economy, and ensure greater efficiencies in the production value chain".

Public works programme

All four parties have committed, to some degree, to expanding the public works programme. The DA sees this being done in partnership with private sector contractors and used as a mechanism for skills development. Cope has rather vaguely promised to achieve the goals of 'developing social and economic infrastructure'.

The IFP and ANC have each promised to invest in specific areas of public infrastructure — roads, power supplies, ports, rail networks, housing and dams. The IFP has also promised to expand and liberalise the ICT sector, because it believes that modern, cost-effective communications are 'central to any economy'.

Both the ANC and Cope have promised to invest in cleaner power generation and, in doing so, to create 'green jobs'.

Tax

Admittedly a little unsurprisingly, the DA is the only party which thought that voters may be interested in tax reforms. They are pushing to increase tax revenues by broadening the tax base. The additional revenue would be invested in infrastructure, technology and innovation. They have also proposed a corporate tax regime which will "attract investment".

AA/BBBEE

The IFP says nothing discernable about either AA or BBBEE; the DA makes a vague statement about how comprehensive broad based economic empowerment must be carried out; and the ANC promises to "vigorously implement" BBBEE and AA and to adjust them to ensure that they benefit broader sections of society.

Cope, on the other hand, devotes a significant portion of its economic policy to the topics of BBBEE and AA. While, in principle, it agrees with both policies, Cope does suggest that the policies need to be reviewed and unintended negative consequences (nepotism, cronyism, exclusion of whites from public service and using race as a sole criterion) need to be addressed.

Cope has proposed AA exemptions for certain sectors of the economy that are suffering a skills shortage (or that require specialised skills). It has also suggested that there should be a monitoring mechanism built into the BBBEE policy to monitor the success or failure of the policy to facilitate the inclusion of special groups such as youth, women and the disabled. The review of BBBEE should also consider other elements such as the socio-economic contribution of big business, procurement and enterprise development.

Labour laws

The ANC has promised to introduce laws to regulate contract work, sub-contracting and out-sourcing. It will also introduce provisions to facilitate the unionisation of workers and create an environment for more labour-intensive methods of production and procurement policies that support local jobs.

Both the ANC and Cope feel that attention needs to be focused on labour-intensive manufacturing industries and production methods.

The DA proposes the introduction of opportunity vouchers (to encourage matriculants to study further or start their own businesses) and wage subsidies (to encourage employers to hire first-time workers). It also suggests that our labour laws and tax regulations need to be simplified and the skills development levy eliminated to cut the cost of doing business and to encourage employers to improve productivity through on-the-job training.

The IFP believes that our labour laws need to be changed to make it easier for small businesses to create new jobs. This includes giving small businesses easier access to capital. Much of the IFP's economic policy focuses on developing, importing and retaining skilled labour and entrepreneurship.

Trade

While the ANC doesn't make any specific proposals regarding trade, it does emphasise the importance of strengthening the manufacturing, mining, clothing, textile and automobile sectors. More specifically, it mentions tiding them through the period of global economic crisis and 'saving and growing' jobs.

The DA's economic policy makes a rather broad statement about facilitating "integration onto the international trading economy through more integrated trade and industrial policies".

Of all four parties, Cope pays the most attention to the issue of trade. It proposes promoting the production of intermediate products for global production chains in areas where South Africa has a comparative advantage. It also suggests diversifying our export destinations (targeting countries in both the north and south) and introducing export tariffs on key commodities to discourage the exportation of raw commodities which would benefit the domestic economy.

So, in a nutshell:

Of the four parties, the ANC's economic policy leans the most to the left, with worker's rights and issues being given considerable attention. The DA's policy, with its emphasis on investment and propositions for tax reform is the most right-leaning (despite its promise of a public works programme and wage subsidies). The IFP and Cope fall somewhere in between, with the former focusing on the role of small businesses and entrepreneurship in the development of the economy and the latter devoting considerable attention to the implementation of BBBEE and AA policies.

Which party's economic policy works for you? Share your thoughts below…

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