Politics
South Africa: ANC govt to help black people earn more ownership of economy
“There were successes, yet massive failures like unemployment, poverty and inequality,” he told AFP.
One policy document stressed the need to focus “on the social and economic transformation of South Africa over the next 30 to 50 years” to change “a structural crisis we inherited from the apartheid economy.”
The conference will discuss reforming the mining sector, so that the state receives more revenue from its mineral resources; and one conference document advocated the use of expropriation “where necessary”.
“The willing-buyer-willing-seller principle constrained the pace and efficacy of land reform,” it says.
But delegates were aware that simply taking over businesses would be counterproductive, said Manamela.
“We’ve got to be considerate of the fact that if we move ahead in nationalization or state intervention without thinking of the negative consequences there will be disinvestment,” he said.
Little progress has been made to restore land to people forced away before and during apartheid. White South Africans, around 10 percent of the population, still own as much as 80 percent of the land.
