South Africa’s economy suffers because of incompetence and corruption

Efficient Group Chief Economist Dawie Roodt said incompetence, corruption, and the wrong macroeconomic policies are to blame for South Africa’s economic problems.

This formed part of Roodt’s commentary on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address on Thursday, 12 February 2026.

In his speech, Ramaphosa highlighted that the South African economy has faced low growth for over 15 years.

“All our actions now are driven by the need for rapid and inclusive economic growth to create more jobs and better quality jobs,” he said.

To give effect to the Medium-Term Development Plan, the Cabinet has approved a comprehensive implementation plan to drive growth and inclusion.

“Through this plan, we are working to revive growth by creating the conditions for firms to invest by maintaining a clear and stable macroeconomic framework,” he said.

Ramaphosa said the government will invest in infrastructure that works and create a conducive regulatory framework that supports growth and enables competition.

He added that the government will pursue a focused, forward-looking industrial policy to support the industry.

He painted a rosy picture of the current state, including that the country has achieved four consecutive quarters of GDP growth.

Inflation is at its lowest level in twenty years, interest rates are beginning to decline, and the credit rating has improved.

The rand has strengthened against the dollar, and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange has performed exceptionally well over the past year.

South Africa has also been removed from the Financial Action Task Force grey list, reflecting improvements in anti-corruption and financial oversight.

So, he said that while the economy has faced low growth for over 15 years, it is currently growing again, and that growth is gathering pace.

Dawie Roodt says what Cyril Ramaphosa could not

Roodt said it is very difficult for this president to admit the real reasons the South African economy hasn’t been growing for 15 years.

The reasons for the poor economic performance, he said, are the ANC government’s incompetence, corruption, and wrong macroeconomic policies.

He also disputed Ramaphosa’s claims of huge investments and foreign direct investments in mines in factories in South Africa.

“That’s simply untrue. We have very low levels of investment in the country because of a weak government and the wrong policies,” he said.

However, it was not all bad. Roodt was mostly positive about the things Ramaphosa mentioned in his 2026 State of the Nation Address.

This includes emphasizing crime-fighting, focusing on economic growth, and driving infrastructure investment. “Those are the things that we need in South Africa,” he said.

However, he pointed out that these problems exist because the government which Ramaphosa leads is mismanaging the South African economy.

“Why is it always that we have to destroy something before the political leaders stand up and start doing something about that?” he asked.

Roodt said that many of the things Ramaphosa mentioned in his State of the Nation Address can be achieved.

“However, as always, it depends on whether the political leadership in South Africa will just talk or do something about this,” he said.

“The things that the president pointed out are not that difficult to do. If they implement these things, the South African economy will react positively.”

“We’ve seen what can happen on financial markets when you make policy changes, like reducing inflation targets.”

However, Roodt is not holding his breath. “The track record of Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC is just horrible,” he said.