ANC broke South Africa’s economy by putting ideology and BEE ahead of the needs of citizens

The ANC put ideology and black economic empowerment (BEE) ahead of the needs of South Africa, which caused a decline in economic growth.

This is the view of renowned economist Dawie Roodt, who shared his views about South Africa’s economy during a Truth Report podcast.

Over the last fifteen years, South Africa’s economic growth has been slower than its population growth, which means that citizens are getting poorer.

The latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) data showed that South Africa’s economic growth is also much lower than that of Sub-Saharan Africa.

The International Monetary Fund said that Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow by 4.5% in both 2026 and 2027.

South Africa’s projected economic growth for 2026 is 1%, 78% lower than Sub-Saharan Africa’s 4.5%.

There is no reason for this other than poor economic policies and the government’s mismanagement of the country.

“The reason why South Africa’s economy is doing badly is because of all sorts of policies that are just wrong,” Roodt said.

“There is also a complete and total mismanagement of the South African economy at just about all levels,” he said.

The mismanagement includes the local authorities, state-owned enterprises, the national accounts, and policies such as BEE and expropriation without compensation.

The national government’s poor handling of the relationship with the United States, which hampers trade, is another blow to the country.

“You put all of that together, and you have an economy that is intensive care because of the ANC. We’ve got a problem, and it’s called the ANC,” Roodt said.

The state destroys capital and prevents people from investing in South Africa

Gross Fixed Capital Formation in South Africa, a measure of total investment in fixed assets, has been well below the government’s targets.

South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP) targets GFCF of 30% of gross domestic product (GDP) to achieve sustained annual economic growth of 5% or higher.

However, total investment sits at around 14% of GDP, less than half the NDP target. This, in turn, resulted in economic growth of only 1%.

“A major reason why we have such low levels of fixed capital formation is that the state itself is a destroyer of capital,” Roodt said.

“When you borrow long-term funds to finance short-term current expenditures, you are destroying capital.”

“That is the opposite of savings; that is the opposite of investing, and that is exactly what the state is doing.”

Roodt said that what is particularly concerning is that South Africans with money do not invest in the country because they know what’s going on.

“They know that we’ve got a destructive government that’s going to cause a lot of damage,” he said.

“There’s no way I’m going to build a factory or start a mine in South Africa with this bunch of palookas in charge.”

“The poor labour legislation makes it difficult to run a business. We also don’t have a stable electricity supply, and the infrastructure is collapsing.”