Rev Black Polit Econ (2017) 44:327–340

DOI 10.1007/s12114-017-9260-2

South Africa’s Economic Transformation Since 1994:

What Influence has the National Democratic Revolution
(NDR) Had?

S. J. Mosala 1 & J. C. M. Venter 1 & E. G. Bain 1

Published online: 4 October 2017

# The Author(s) 2017. This article is an open access publication

Abstract When the African National Congress (ANC) became the democratic gov-
ernment of South Africa in 1994, it faced the challenge of transforming the economy.
How this was to be done, however, revolved around two divergent views of the
National Democratic Revolution (NDR) which forms the underlying ideology or glue
that binds together the Tripartite Alliance comprising the ANC, the South African
Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions
(COSATU), the largest workers’ union in the country. Transformation could be
achieved either radically through measures such as nationalisation where political
control would be transposed into economic power, or via a more liberal route involving
the promotion of macro-economic development and the growth of company earnings.
This article investigates how the ANC government has sought to bring about the much-
needed transformation by providing summary analyses of the following macro-
economic policies: the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), the
Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) strategy, the Accelerated and Shared
Growth Initiative - South Africa (ASGISA), the New Growth Path (NGP) and the
National Development Plan (NDP). Evidence suggests that while the NDR promised
radical results, the economic transformation that has been taking place in South Africa
since 1994 has been driven largely by neo-liberal principles. This is in contrast to what
the ANC claims in various policy documents and what various scholars, such as Jeffery
(2010:5) and Venter (2012), have also claimed. As South Africa’s economic fortunes

* J. C. M. Venter
[email protected]; [email protected]

S. J. Mosala
[email protected]
E. G. Bain
[email protected]

1
North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
328 Rev Black Polit Econ (2017) 44:327–340

have declined in recent years in the face of mounting external pressures and internal
policy uncertainty, this deviation from the original ideology and plan is causing
significant discord in the country.

Keywords African National Congress (ANC) . National Democratic Revolution (NDR) .

Freedom Charter . economic transformation

Introduction

BWhen, in 1994, a democratically elected government came to power, it inherited a

contradictory legacy: the most developed economy in Africa on the one hand and major
socio-economic problems on the other^ (Terreblanche 2002).
While there was a shift in political power in 1994, the struggle for social and
economic transformation remained unresolved (Luiz 2007). The country’s complex
social and economic history had entrenched widespread unemployment, poverty,
inequality and a lack of competitive capacity, while the volatility of the 1980s had
further ravaged the economy. The new African National Congress (ANC) government
thus faced enormous development challenges.
The ANC government had identified economic transformation as a fundamental
component of the process of turning the country into a non-racial, non-sexist, egalitar-
ian, united and democratic South Africa (ANC 1994). Although transformation was
clearly necessary, how it would be achieved in terms of the National Democratic
Revolution (NDR), as expressed in the Freedom Charter, 1 rested on two divergent
views. First, transformation could be achieved radically through measures such as
nationalisation which called for political control to be transposed into economic power.
Secondly, transformation could be achieved through the adoption of a more liberal
approach in which the promotion of macro-economic development and the growth of
company earnings would take precedence over radical redistribution (Hudson 1986:9;
Brits 2014:507). These two views are integral to the ANC’s ideology or the way in
which the ANC government thinks about its reality (which in turn shapes government
policy).
At present the radical and populist interpretation of the NDR is gaining ground in
the face of declining economic growth in South Africa (0.2% in July/August 2016),
growing joblessness (26.7% in March 2016), and poor service delivery (92% of
municipalities in financial difficulty). This bleak picture resonates with the increas-
ingly strident demands being made by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)
political party 2 (EFF 2016) and with some of the key issues raised in the State of
the Nation Address (SONA) 2017 delivered by the President of South Africa, Jacob
Zuma (Zuma 2017).

1
B…the Freedom Charter was adopted by the ANC as its official programme in 1956 and has become its
lodestar. However, controversy over the Charter’s meaning has never abated among opponents of apartheid
(Hudson 1986:9).
2
The Constitution of the EFF says the primary aim of the EFF is: BTo capture political and state power
through whatever revolutionary means possible to transform the economy for the benefit of all, in particular
Africans.^
Rev Black Polit Econ (2017) 44:327–340 329

Against the above backdrop, this article analyses South Africa’s economic
transformation from 1994 until 2017 with a view to ascertaining whether or not
the ANC’s macro-economic policies are true to the radical interpretation of the
NDR, as reflected in the Freedom Charter. The NDR, according to the governing
alliance, is the most recent inculcation of the struggle against apartheid as it was
formulated in documents such as the Freedom Charter 3 (Nzimande 2006; Hudson
1986:9).

Methodology

The research is based on a literature study and a descriptive 4 analysis. First, a

succinct description of the NDR is provided and, secondly, a chronological account
is given of the ANC government’s macro-economic policies from 1994 until 2017;
this is in order to identify the possible influence of the NDR on those policies. The
policy analysis is conducted through a description and explanation of the following
macro-economic policies: the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP),
the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) strategy, the Accelerated and
Shared Growth Initiative—South Africa (ASGISA), the New Growth Path (NGP)
and the National Development Plan (NDP), as well as a summary analysis of the
most important pieces of redress legislation relating to economic transformation
that were adopted in terms of the macro-economic policies, namely the Employ-
ment Equity Act, Act 55 of 1998 (EEA) (RSA 1998), the Broad-Based Black
Economic Empowerment Act, Act 53 of 2003 (BEE/B-BBEE) (RSA 2003), and
the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, Act 29 of 2008 (MPRDA)
(RSA 2008).
The NDR, the principles of which are expressed in the Freedom Charter, has played
a crucial role in the ANC’s quest to bring about macro-economic transformation in
South Africa since 1994.

Significance of the NDR

The NDR is the binding ideology of the governing Tripartite Alliance consisting of
the ANC, the SACP (South African Communist Party) and COSATU (Congress of
South African Trade Unions). The NDR cements this alliance (which was formed
during the struggle against apartheid) and other united but diverse groups against the
enemy of Bcolonialism of a special type^/apartheid 5 and its exploitative economic
3
The Alliance shared the perspective that as much as the NDR was not a socialist revolution, it was not a
struggle for capitalism either. This shared perspective was deepened through the adoption of the Freedom
Charter in 1995 which, while not a socialist document, envisaged a radical transformation of society, including
major restructuring of the capitalist system itself in favour of the overwhelming majority of the people. The
shared perspective was also strengthened by the ANC’s commitment to a working class bias as captured in the
Morogoro Conference as well as what is contained in the ‘Green Book’, which the discussion document refers
to (Nzimande 2006).
4
Marlow (2005:333) defines descriptive research as follows: BA process of recording and reporting
phenomena.^ The aim of this type of research is to accurately determine what is happening.
5
This situation is said to exist when the coloniser lives with the colonised in the same country (ANC 1987).
330 Rev Black Polit Econ (2017) 44:327–340

legacy (Venter 2012:4).6 Furthermore, the ANC7 claims in various policy documents
that the NDR forms the basis of its policies. Various scholars, including (Jeffery
(2010:5), Venter (Venter 2012) and Johnson (2009), have concurred that the NDR
should indeed form the basis of the policy formulation approach followed by the
ANC government.
According to another scholar, the NDR is radical in nature, even more radical
than Nzimande describes in footnote 4 above. According to Mosala (2015:11), the
NDR will be (or should be) both anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist and more
socialist, with the redistribution of resources—to address the contradictions and
legacy of colonialism of a special type (CST)—forming the core of the policy. Some
of this sentiment is expressed in the Freedom Charter:

BThe national wealth of our country, the heritage of all South Africans, shall be
restored to the people; The mineral wealth beneath the soil, the banks and
monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole;

All other industry and trade shall be controlled to assist the well-being of the
people … Restrictions of land ownership on a racial basis shall be ended, and all
the land re-divided amongst those who work it, to banish famine and land hunger;
The state shall help the peasants with implements, seed, tractors and dams to save
the soil and assist the tillers^ (Congress of the People 1955).

This literal interpretation of the quoted section is gaining traction, as is the question
why, 23 years after apartheid, the disparities in society described above still exist in
spite of the Charter having been the expression of the NDR since the latter’s develop-
ment prior to 1955. Given this background, this article attempts to analyse the influence
of the NDR on macro-economic policies from 1994 until 2017. In order to do this, the
next section will offer a short contextual perspective on the period of transition in South
Africa before going on to analyse the various macro-economic policies of the ANC
government.

Contextualisation: the changing macro-economic policy landscape

in South Africa

South Africa’s democratisation led to the integration of the country into the world
economy, which gained momentum after the elections in 1994. This followed the
earlier crisis that had engulfed South Africa which started in the late 1970s and was

6
Documents seminal to the understanding of the NDR include: What is the National Democratic Revolution?
(Nzimande 2006) and Research and Policy Brief: The National Democratic Revolution (NDR): Its Origins and
Implications - 31 May 2012 (Jeffery 2012).
7
The 2012 Policy Conference reaffirmed the centrality of the Freedom Charter as the ANC’s lodestar. In
particular, it affirmed the characterisation of the National Democratic Revolution...in order to give expression
to the tasks arising from the new phase of the NDR… (ANC 2012:6). For the 2017 Policy Conference, the
strategy and tactics document goes so far as to say that B…one of the most critical acts of the NDR is the
creation of a legitimate state which derives its authority from the people…^ (ANC 2017:5).
Rev Black Polit Econ (2017) 44:327–340 331

characterised by a weak currency, high unemployment, and persistent economic insta-

bility and inequality.
Politically, the world was changing. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which
led to the implosion of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1991,
prompted a major shift in geo-politics. The collapse of the USSR gave rise to the
term, the ‘end of history’, as well as references to the triumph of liberal democracy
by Fukuyama (1989). In Africa, countries such as Zambia, Mozambique and
Tanzania, which had embraced nationalisation and other socialist ideologies, were
in economic crisis. Neo-liberal thinking dominated capitalists’ rule worldwide. The
ANC signed a new General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and joined the
World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, thereby committing itself to neo-liberal
policies in the post-apartheid era.
The apartheid government had been late in embracing a market-based policy of
deregulation and non-intervention. From the early 1980s onwards, it had sought to
enhance the role of the private sector in policymaking, and the ANC, once in power,
extended the process of economic liberalisation by adopting macro-economic
policies that rapidly led to the containment of fiscal deficit (easing fears of a
populist response), single-digit inflation and lower interest rates. Macro-economic
policy was welcomed by the private sector, both locally and abroad, as well as by
international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
World Bank, but not by the labour unions (Greenberg 2003:46).

Macro-economic policies after the transition

To understand the policy trajectory pursued by the post-apartheid government, it

is essential to grasp the meaning of ‘macro-economic policy’. Macro-economics
is that branch of economics that is concerned with group behaviour, where the
entire nation is the group (Kennedy 1984:3). It seeks to answer questions about
the general levels of activity, employment, prices, production, income, expendi-
ture, inflation, unemployment and volume of money in circulation in any eco-
nomic system. Therefore, macro-economic policy refers to a plan or course of
action that focuses on the economy of the country as a whole, which is specif-
ically aimed at managing employment and production levels, determining levels
of income and expenditure, limiting inflation and ensuring economic growth
(Cornelissen et al. 2006:402). After South Africa’s democratisation in 1994, the
ANC government adopted this as a macro-economic policy philosophy to stabi-
lise and grow the economy, which had been under siege since the late 1970s
during the apartheid government, and to address unemployment which was
contributing to poverty and inequality in the country. This philosophy was first
expressed by the ANC in 1994 in its new strategic blueprint, the Reconstruction
and Development Plan (RDP).

Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP)

The RDP, which was launched by the ANC shortly before the 1994 elections, was a
comprehensive and very ambitious national project (Brits 2014:507). The RDP base
document, a product of the ANC-led alliance, was also a radical document which
332 Rev Black Polit Econ (2017) 44:327–340

required that the many tenets of the Freedom Charter be met. The document was,
however, revised many times in order to accommodate the interests of the business
sector.
The RDP White Paper, which was adopted by the Government of National Unity
(GNU) in 1994, professed a firm commitment to fiscal and monetary discipline, while
omitting any reference to nationalisation. It also raised the possibility of funding the
RDP through the privatisation of under-utilised state assets (Jeffery 2010:240). The
White Paper described the RDP as an integrated, coherent, socio-economic framework
with its main priority being the creation of employment through economic growth.
Other goals included the alleviation of poverty and extreme inequality, increasing
manufactured exports, and addressing uneven development in different regions in the
country (RSA 1994).
The objectives of the RDP were wholly compatible with privatisation,
liberalisation and convertibility (Marais 2001:237). The document stated that the
country’s monetary policy would recognise the independence of the South African
Reserve Bank (SARB), while industrial policy would focus on restructuring
existing industries and correctly identifying significant new areas (such as minerals
beneficiation) for industrial development. Trade policies would be liberalised in
line with the country’s obligations under the Marrakesh Agreement (1994) estab-
lishing the World Trade Organization (WTO) in order to stimulate manufactured
exports (Jeffery 2010:240).
The RDP was successful in some areas, such as social security where the
government established an extensive welfare system. A free health care system
was also implemented for pregnant women and children, and free meals were
provided to between three and a half million and five million school children (Cling
2001:67). Five hundred new clinics were built, ensuring that five million additional
people had medical services close to where they lived. Furthermore, more than two
million additional homes were connected to the electricity network, resulting in
63% of the population having electricity at home (Cling 2001:67).
From the outset, however, the implementation of the RDP proved to be far from
plain sailing (Luiz 2007; Cameron 1996). The RDP, essentially a national macro-
economic upliftment programme, was abandoned after 2 years because of inade-
quate economic growth to finance it, the inability of the public administration to
implement it (Brits 2014:507) and various intra-organisational shortcomings, name-
ly, a lack of policy coordination and implementation skills within the ANC’s own
ranks and the fact that the loyalty of the incumbent civil servants was in question. A
lack of resources was another factor (Luiz 2007; Wallis 1995). The RDP fund of
R2.5-billion or 2% of the national budget was not enough to alleviate the backlog in
the provision of equal infrastructure and services to the underprivileged (Luiz
2007). The inability of the ANC government to prioritise the RDP and integrate it
as a guide to its socio-economic policies was also a factor.
On 14 June 1996, in the wake of a severe currency depreciation and associated
volatility, Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel tabled the Growth, Employment and
Redistribution (GEAR) strategy in Parliament, announcing that the parameters of
the policy Bwere not negotiable at this stage^ (Abedian and Ajam 2009:82). The
government asserted that the GEAR strategy was premised on the RDP (Jeffery
2010:245).
Rev Black Polit Econ (2017) 44:327–340 333

Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) strategy

GEAR was introduced as a strategy to rebuild and reshape the economy Bin keeping
with the goals set in the RDP^ (Jeffery 2010:245); in other words, it was based on free
market principles with a strong focus on economic growth (Brits 2014:507). The
GEAR document emphasised that according to the Department of Finance (1996) the
accelerated economic growth associated with stronger employment creation was the
key to arriving at an equitable distribution of income and improved standards of living
for all. Employment creation provides a powerful vehicle for redistribution, supported
by government housing, water and sanitation, health, education, welfare and social
security services provision (Department of Finance 1996).
GEAR noted that the then 3% growth trajectory would neither accomplish
sufficient job creation to eradicate unemployment nor allow for the needed expan-
sion in social service delivery and the equitable distribution of income and wealth.
Thus, the strategy provided for a targeted growth rate of 6% and the creation of
400,000 jobs per annum by 2000 (Department of Finance 1996; Jeffery 2010:245;
Makino 2013:4).
GEAR also set a more stringent fiscal deficit target of 3% by 1999, down from the
4.5% set in 1994. The strategy further stated that this saving, combined with increased
government investment, would eliminate government dissaving (Department of
Finance 1996). The country’s monetary policy addressed inflation and financial stabil-
ity, and provided for a further relaxation in exchange controls. The trade and industry
policy, in turn, focused on employment and boosting international competitiveness.
Emphasis was placed on enhancing competitiveness and employment in the
manufacturing and tourism sectors, with industrial support measures including inno-
vation, productivity and small business support programmes, tax exemptions and tax
holidays, and the strengthening of competition legislation (Luiz 2007). With regard to
labour, it was stated that trade liberalisation had to be accompanied by greater flexibility
in the labour market; otherwise rising unemployment would be the result (Jeffery
2010:245).
The implementation of GEAR proceeded rapidly and it was praised by the local and
international business communities. However, the Tripartite Alliance’s COSATU and
SACP were vehemently opposed to the scrapping of its predecessor, the RDP (Brits
2014:507). In 2001, the effectiveness of GEAR was measured against its expressed
targets.
GEAR’s economic impact was determined to be mixed. It did ensure that South
Africa strengthened its financial situation, lowered its interest rates and brought
inflation under control (Habib 2013:81). In addition, the budget deficit was only
2.2% of GDP, import tariffs were below the anticipated 7.6% of the value of imports
and investment by State-Owned Companies (SOCs) was growing by 13.6% per annum
(Luiz 2007). In other areas, however, GEAR failed dismally. The fiscal gains came at a
devastating social cost. Levels of inequality and poverty increased dramatically in the
years immediately after the adoption of GEAR (Habib 2013:81). While GEAR prom-
ised a growth rate of 6% per annum, the growth rate never exceeded 5% and it was
accompanied by an increase in unemployment that was well above 30% (Gevisser
2009:252). Formal non-agricultural employment declined by an estimated 3.3% in
2000 and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2000 amounted to less than 1% of GDP.
334 Rev Black Polit Econ (2017) 44:327–340

With declining employment and some brutal austerity measures in place, the effect was
the perpetuation of inequality. Inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient increased
from 0.672 in 1993 to 0.6858 in 1999 (Habib 2013:81). Also, B[a]s had been the case
with the RDP, inadequate administrative competence was a limiting factor^ (Brits
2014:507). The benefits of economic growth therefore never trickled down, as prom-
ised by GEAR, and it was replaced by the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative—
South Africa (ASGISA) in 2006.

Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative – South Africa (ASGISA)

ASGISA was announced by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka in August

2005 and was launched the following year. The core objective of the programme
was to halve poverty and unemployment by 2014, in line with the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) (Anon 2006). Furthermore, it aimed to improve the
country’s economic performance and job creation capacity. To ensure it achieved its
objectives, the government sought to promote an average annual growth rate of at
least 4.5% from 2005 to 2009, rising to at least 6% from 2010 to 2014. The trickle-
down effect was also emphasised. In addition, the state promised to raise public
expenditure on fixed capital investment to R370 billion over 3 years and step up its
interventions to reduce inequality and assist the marginalised poor. In particular, it
would seek to bridge the gap between the first and second economies,9 with the aim
of eliminating the second economy altogether (Jeffery 2010:255).
Anon (2006) emphasised that under ASGISA the government would overcome
Bbinding constraints^ on faster growth. These were a volatile and often over-valued
rand, infrastructure and investment backlogs, a shortage of suitably skilled labour, a
lack of competition in various sectors, a heavy regulatory burden on small business,
increases in the cost of transport and services provision, and deficiencies in state
capacity and leadership.
Given the short period of time that priority was given to ASGISA, it is difficult to
measure its success or otherwise. The initiative achieved some level of success. For
example, the infrastructure programme included public sector spending which indicated
an increase from 4.6% of GDP in 2006/07 to 9.6% in 2009/10 (Mbola 2009).
Unemployment and poverty, however, remained unchanged or worsened after the
adoption of ASGISA by the South African government. When Mbeki’s presidency
came to an end, ASGISA was superseded by the New Growth Path (NGP).

New Growth Path (NGP)

The New Growth Path (NGP) was announced by President Zuma in his State of the
Nation Address (SONA) in 2010. According to the NGP, the core challenges facing

8
The Gini coefficient measures the deviation of the distribution of income among individuals or households
within a country from a perfectly equal distribution. A value of 0 represents absolute equality, a value of 1
absolute inequality (UNDP 2014).
9
The first economy is the Bwhite first world economy^ while the second economy is the Bpoor black
unintegrated economy^, as stated by Thabo Mbeki in his speech to the Black Management Forum in 2003
(Pressley 2003).
Rev Black Polit Econ (2017) 44:327–340 335

South Africa were mass joblessness, poverty and inequality (Morris 2013). Its main
objective was to tackle these challenges by accelerating economic growth in the
country (Morris 2013). The NGP also aspired to create five million more jobs by
2020 and reduce unemployment by 10%—largely through a public infrastructure
programme (Gumede 2012). Furthermore, the NGP set out to reduce South Africa’s
economic inequalities (Habib 2013:98). To this end, a set of policies with two
distinct goals were recommended: enhancing the livelihood of those at the bottom
of the economic ladder, and temporarily and voluntarily constraining the income of
the upper middle classes and elite (Habib 2013:98).
The NGP proposed the following strategic principles to address the identified
challenges:

& To deepen democratic and regional markets by growing employment, increasing

incomes, and undertaking other measures to improve equity and income distribu-
tion; and
& To widen the market for South African goods and services through a strong focus
on exports to the region and other rapidly growing economies (Patel 2011).

Similar to its predecessor, the NGP placed emphasis on infrastructure development

as a source of employment and economic growth. The NGP identified various areas
where employment could be created. Job drivers were identified as the infrastructure
and services industries, the green economy, public services and rural development
(Patel 2011). It takes time to implement policy but in view of the short time span of the
NGP it is hard to assess its effectiveness or otherwise (Gumede 2012). The National
Development Plan (NDP), which built on the NGP, was introduced in 2012.

National Development Plan (NDP)

The NDP is the latest macro-economic policy from the ANC government which
emphasises economic growth as a way to deal with the challenges of unemploy-
ment, inequality, poverty and redistribution. This plan constitutes a long-term
vision and covers the period up to 2030. Among the plan’s targets are creating 11
million jobs by 2030, eliminating income-induced poverty and reducing inequali-
ty—in this regard, the Gini coefficient should fall from 0.69 to 0.6 by 2030.
Furthermore, the plan seeks a corruption-free society, strong adherence to ethical
conduct throughout society and a government that is accountable to its people. The
document acknowledges the progress made since 1994 such as periods of economic
stability and increased access to health and education, social security, water,
housing and electricity (National Planning Commission 2013).
The NDP is still relatively new and, realistically, its results will only become
visible as time goes by. Yet it has so far attracted both praise and criticism from
many different political and economic role players. The Democratic Alliance (DA)
and other liberal organisations are pressing the government to prioritise the imple-
mentation of the NDP, while some within the Tripartite Alliance say that it is a
betrayal of the NDR and the Freedom Charter. The Mass Democratic Movement
(MDM) structures have also voiced their dissatisfaction with the NDP. NUMSA
rejected the NDP for not being rooted in the historical liberation struggle in South
336 Rev Black Polit Econ (2017) 44:327–340

Africa and for being anti-Freedom Charter, anti-working class and ultimately not in
the best interests of the vast majority of South Africans (Jim 2013). According to
NUMSA (2013), the NDP leaves intact the existing patterns of ownership and
control of the economy and calls for a minimalist role by the state and for labour
market de-regulation. In addition, it sees land reform as being rooted in the willing
buyer–willing seller model and the macro-economic policy remains neo-liberal.
The NDP has no plan to support industrialisation or the manufacturing sector in
particular. Instead, the infrastructure plan reinforces dependence on raw material
exports (Jim 2013).

Redress legislation based on South Africa’s macro-economic policies

In order to realise the macro-economic policies referred to above, certain Acts were
promulgated for the purpose of redressing economic imbalances in the country.
The redress legislation, based on the successive macro-economic policies drawn
from the principles of the NDR and Freedom Charter, and implemented by the ANC, is
aimed at ensuring that previously disadvantaged groups participate in the mainstream
economy. The ANC, through its democratisation and de-racialisation policies, has
adopted legislation such as the Employment Equity Act, 1998, the Mineral and
Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA), 2002, and the Broad-based Black
Economic Empowerment Act (B-BBEE), 2003.
The Employment Equity Act, for example, B[was] located within the context of
the country’s national transformation programme, namely the RDP^ (BEE Com-
mission Report, 2001:2) and was the implementing mechanism whereby political
control would be transposed into economic power by cadre deployment in the three
government spheres, state-controlled companies (e.g. the Electricity Supply Com-
mission (ESCOM)), and semi-state institutions such as the Land Bank where B[a]
history of loyalty to the ANC became important when appointments had to be
made^ (Joubert 2014:540).
The overarching framework of the MPRDA, which came into effect in 2004, was
B...informed by the vision of the Freedom Charter, which called for mineral wealth
to be owned by all people of South Africa^ through the vesting of mineral rights in
the state. This allowed the state to act as a custodian of the mineral wealth on behalf
of all the people. This was to be achieved through the Broad-based Socio-economic
Charter for the South African Mining Industry of 2004 (CALS 2016:14).
The B-BBEE Act made provision for the economic empowerment of all black
people, including women, workers, youth, people with disabilities and people
living in rural areas, through diverse but integrated socio-economic strategies
(RSA 2003).
The laudable principles of the economic empowerment legislation, which was
adopted by the ANC with the advent of a democratic government in 1994, have—
except for a successful cadre deployment strategy—largely failed to redistribute assets
to the majority of the black community and has rather resulted in the enrichment of a
few BEE ‘deal makers’ (Emkes 2012:200).
The ANC, as the ruling party, has chosen to continue with the colonial economic
system. To legitimise this option, the ANC has resolved to push the de-racialisation
Rev Black Polit Econ (2017) 44:327–340 337

of the economy which perpetuated inequality, poverty, unemployment, racism and

dispossession. De-racialisation championed by B-BBEE, Affirmative Action and
the MPRDA is not tantamount to economic transformation as envisaged by the
NDR and the Freedom Charter, but is a reformist programme of the national elite.
The aforementioned macro-economic policies and redistributive legislation illus-
trate a deviation from the NDR and the Freedom Charter by the ANC, even though
in its policy, strategy and tactics documents, and discussion papers, it stated that the
NDR and the Freedom Charter remained its lodestar.

Possible influence of the national democratic revolution

The above discussion on the macro-economic policies and the various references to
redress legislation indicate a lack of radical economic transformation and the fact
that the ANC is pushing reformism, not radical economic transformation as some
envisioned. The party, and especially the Jacob Zuma administration, is being
severely lambasted for this perceived failing10 (Bendile 2015).
They also illustrate that the ANC government has bound itself to neo-liberal
economic policies, which has resulted in it not achieving many of its promised
objectives.
Inequality, poverty and unemployment are still prevalent in South Africa, despite
economic growth after 1996. The ANC continued with economic liberalisation (the
status quo), which was implemented by the apartheid government in the 1980s, and
pursued co-option by monopoly capital instead of dismantling the colonial eco-
nomic system. Further, the organisation legitimised co-option (entry-ism) through
its policy of democratisation and de-racialisation of the economy, which led to the
adoption of BEE and Affirmative Action. The discussion above indicates a gap
between the ANC’s ideology and the ANC’s economic policy. The policies that the
ANC have adopted are contrary to what the literal and more radical interpretation of
the NDR and the Freedom Charter is, suggesting that the ANC’s economic policy is
not radically influenced by the NDR, as it claims.
The ANC government faces popular discontent from the citizens of South Africa
because of its failure to address the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and
unemployment. This can be seen in the defections of trade unions from the
Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the radical rhetoric of the
National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), the formation of the
radical Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, the growing number of service
delivery protests, and the growing criticism being levelled against government by
the #FeesMustFall movement, the Save South Africa movement—which has
proclaimed: BHelp us stop the Zuma nightmare^ (Save South Africa 2017)—and
the South African Communist Party (SACP) which is no longer supporting the
ANC, either in the upcoming election or as an alliance partner, and is calling for the
formation of a Bnew structure^ (Ncana 2017).

10
BThey say they are simply hoping for economic freedom in their life time. They want to see the
nationalisation of mines and the Reserve Bank. They also want JSE-listed companies to stop labour-
brokering and a national minimum wage of R4 500^ (Bendile 2015).
338 Rev Black Polit Econ (2017) 44:327–340

Conclusion

The ANC came to power at a time of profound political and economic change in the
world and, as the government, it was faced with enormous economic challenges and
two possible options: either to continue with the ‘colonialist economic system’ which
was to become the neo-liberal economy of 1994 and beyond, characterised by a
succession of economic policies described above, or to dismantle the prevailing
ownership in the economy through radical nationalisation and redistribution. The
ANC chose the neo-liberal option, which was dominant around the world at that stage.
This, though, was in contrast to the promises of the NDR and the Freedom Charter.
Having got into power, the ANC pursued and continued with economic
liberalisation, first adopting the RDP White Paper which committed the government
to fiscal stability and a reduction of the budget deficit. Furthermore, the RDP commit-
ted the government to trade liberalisation. The RDP was subsequently replaced by
GEAR which emphasised economic growth and the trickle-down principle. GEAR
championed tariff reductions, privatisation, flexible labour markets, fiscal discipline
and the relaxation of exchange controls—all of which are neo-liberal objectives.
ASGISA and the NGP called for some form of government intervention, but they
were hardly in line with what the NDR and the Freedom Charter had envisaged. The
NDP was adopted by the ANC at the Mangaung Conference in 2012. It promotes
minimal state intervention, and does not address the existing patterns of ownership and
control of the economy or the de-regulation of the labour market. It remains a neo-
liberal macro-economic policy. This is in stark contrast to the seemingly open call of
the Freedom Charter for the redistribution of wealth.
In conclusion, it is clear that the ANC’s economic policies, which eventually became
government’s macro-economic policies, are not rooted in the NDR and the Freedom
Charter, especially not in the literal or radical interpretation thereof. This is despite the
ANC stating that its economic vision rests on the Freedom Charter’s core message that the
people shall share in South Africa’s wealth. This is a reflection of how the ANC is bound
to neo-liberal orthodoxy, thus making the ANC government neo-liberal in character.

Abbreviations ANC, African National Congress; ANC-YL, African National Congress -Youth League;
ASGISA, Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative - South Africa; GEAR, Growth, Employment and
Redistribution (strategy); NDP, National Development Plan; NDR, National Democratic Revolution

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and repro-
duction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a
link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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