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Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff, are both currently in South Africa for the fifth India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) summit. There is much that President Zuma can learn from these countries and their leaders about fuelling economic growth and addressing unemployment.

Key among these is that we must make job creation and economic growth our top priority.

Both India and Brazil have achieved tremendous success in accelerating economic growth and job creation by liberalising their economic policies. This stands in stark contrast to the path our current government has placed us on. Instead of growing the state’s involvement in the economy, Brazil and India have prioritised foreign direct investment and private sector-led growth as the key to their growth strategies.

South Africa is increasing direct and indirect taxation, which discourages investment and private sector growth. We are relying more and more on state-driven economic growth and are acting with hostility towards prospective foreign investors. In Brazil and India, the approach has been the exact opposite. And the numbers show the difference.

South Africa has been hit hard by the global financial crisis, with unemployment increasing to 25.7% and GDP growth slowing significantly. In Brazil and India, growth has remained strong at 7.5% and 8.5% respectively, and unemployment has been kept relatively low at 5.7% and 9.4%. The reality is that these countries have placed growth and job creation above all else, while the South African government has chosen to place political considerations above stimulating our economy and tackling unemployment.

The time has come for a change of approach.

The DA’s 8% growth project, a policy project designed to identify what South Africa needs to do in order to achieve 8% economic growth, represents such a change. We will incorporate successful elements from India and Brazil’s growth-oriented policies into this project. The question is whether President Zuma and his alliance partners will be able, and willing, to learn from these countries as well.