ActionSA president Herman Mashaba asserted on Wednesday that if his party is elected to government following the national elections later this year, its first job will be to fix South Africa’s “broken economy” and create new jobs.

All eyes will be on President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday when he delivers his eighth State of the Nation Address (SoNA).

Outlining ActionSA’s solutions to fix South Africa if voted into government, Mashaba believes Ramaphosa will once again make “grand promises” and speak of progress in his SoNA. 

“We have heard these promises and lies of progress before. But, by almost every measure, South Africans are worse off today than they were six years ago,” Mashaba said.

He highlighted that unemployment had increased, crime was on the rise, loadshedding was more severe, and the country’s infrastructure was in a worse state of decay. 

“This is not just the legacy of President Ramaphosa, but the party which he leads,” Mashaba said.

He said citizens do not need another SoNA filled with empty promises, but rather a solutions-based alternative with real plans to fix the country.

Mashaba explained that ActionSA’s policy on Economic Prosperity would create a conducive environment for economic growth and job creation through interventions that stabilised the energy market, developed world-class economic infrastructure, and improved the ease of doing business.

“We will reform labour regulations to break the stranglehold of unions and make it easier to do business to create millions of jobs and lift our people out of poverty. We will support small, micro and medium enterprises and ensure that we remove the barriers to growth that prevent small businesses from succeeding,” said Mashaba.

He explained that ActionSA’s policies would cut red tape and unlock entrepreneurship by introducing low-interest, government-secured loans for small- to medium-sized enterprises, and also fast-track the development of new industries and technologies to foster a culture of innovation and competition so that the economy could diversify and create new sources of growth.

He highlighted that economic growth that was not inclusive would not break the cycle of poverty and inequality that prevented South Africans from reaching their true potential.

He said an ActionSA government would replace broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) with a policy of Inclusive Economic Empowerment that will empower all previously disadvantaged South Africans, as well as those harmed by 30 years of a “corrupt and incompetent government”.

“We will establish an Opportunity Fund that will invest economic infrastructure like schools, healthcare and Internet access in disadvantaged communities, ensuring that they have the same opportunities for upward mobility as other South Africans. By using the money businesses currently spend on malicious B-BBEE compliance and window-dressing to build real infrastructure that benefits the poorest of South Africans, we will level the playing field once and for all,” said Mashaba.

SECURING OF BORDERS

Mashaba said while ActionSA wanted people from across the world to come to South Africa, they needed to do so legally and obey the country’s laws once here.

“When I was in Limpopo last year, I saw first-hand how hundreds of people were able to cross the South African-Zimbabwean border illegally because of the non-existent border fence,” he said.

He claimed that the Border Management Authority (BMA), which had newly built offices a few kilometres from the non-existent borders, did little to stop this illegality.

Ramaphosa launched the BMA in October last year, to provide a sustainable solution to the structural challenges of border security, control and coordination.

Mashaba highlighted that ActionSA would secure the country’s borders while reforming the immigration system to make it easier for those who can contribute to the country’s economy to enter legally.

“And we will clamp down on corruption and the issuing of fraudulent documentation in the Department of Home Affairs. We will expedite the deportation of undocumented criminals who have no right to be in South Africa,” he said.

Mashaba noted that if implemented, these solutions would lead to safer communities, improved economic infrastructure, and a prosperous country where everyone had equal access to opportunity.