Durban – “Defective" policies sanctioned by the
African National Congress and "designed to serve white monopoly
capital" are keeping South Africa from radical economic transformation,
according to Progressive Professionals Forum president Jimmy Manyi.
“Most people will say that the ANC has good policies and
the problem is implementation. I differ. Ninety percent of the problem is
defective policies. The policies of the ANC, of this government, have been
infiltrated. They serve white monopoly capital,” Manyi told a KwaZulu-Natal ANC
Youth League meeting in Durban on Friday night.
Manyi said the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) had
“failed dismally”.
“Year after year we hear about billions upon billions in
irregular expenditure but nobody is questioning the policy instrument that is
meant to prevent this. We at the Progressive Professionals Forum are saying
that PFMA has failed as a guardian of how our public purse should be spent. “It
is clear that our problems in this country are defective policies. If policy is
not right not much is going to happen,” he said.
The Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act was
also “appalling policy” and had caused poverty in South Africa.
He said section 217 of the Constitution, on provision of
procurement, was the most abused section in the country. The section was made
up of three subsections but only subsection one was frequently referred to.
Subsection one referred to transparency in process and efficiencies but
“enemies of transformation” would ignore both remaining subsections, he said.
Subsection two stated that people who had endured
apartheid needed to be recognised as having a "terrible past" which
spoke to the issue of empowerment. Subsection three stated that a national
framework should be put in place to effect subsection two.
Regulations such as the Preferential Procurement Policy
Framework Act (PPPFA) were “fiddled with” to favour "white monopoly
capital", he said. “The PPPFA says that when you are assessing a tender 90
percent of the points must go to a company that is going to charge you less. Is
it possible for a [small business owner or individual] to compete with a
Raymond Ackerman? Why is it that government doesn’t understand this?
“When we go to the ANC’s policy [conference] it must be
made very clear that this PPPFA does not allow for radical economic
transformation. You can’t do [bit by bit] radical economic transformation.
Something must happen here and now. The ANC has got a majority in government so
that it can implement the will of the people,” he said. The ANC was causing
confusion when referring to "monopoly capital" as opposed to
"white monopoly capital", Manyi said.
“Because the ANC just keeps talking about monopoly
capital they create confusion. This has led to some state monopolies being
targeted for de-concentration. Institutions like Eskom have become the first
casualty of being de-concentrated. Where is the focus on de-concentration of
white monopoly capital which is the issue that we are dealing with?” He said it
was important to note that "white monopoly capital" did not include
all white people.
A corner shop or a white person “walking up and down” was
not white monopoly capital. “White monopoly capital is the extreme ends of the
capitalists of this country. These are the people that control the oligopolies
of the industry.”
He said there was a theory that corporations should be
left alone and instead people should start their own companies. “There is no
‘own’ left. The market is sewn up,” he said.
“If we don’t de-concentrate these companies we are going
nowhere. We are just going to be entertaining the theory of wealth; we are
going to be ‘the others’... we are not going to eat at the main table because
the main table is occupied,” Manyi said.
AFRICAN NEWS
AGENCY