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We Must Crouch Like an Asian Tiger
The last 10-Year Review of the [South African] government issued by the Presidency – under former president Thabo Mbeki – made some key findings.
In the first instance the review confirmed that South Africa had made great progress in consolidating democracy and redirecting government spending toward the poor .
The review also revealed that the key governmental failures had been on the economic front where unemployment and massive inequalities persisted. It is in this context that within the tripartite alliance there arose talk about a developmental state – aimed at redressing these failures. (...)
One of the innovators of the debate around the developmental state, US- Asian studies’ scholar Chalmers Johnson, has argued that one of the most critical elements of a developmental state is not its economic policy “but its ability to mobilise the nation around economic development within a capitalist system”.
In its discussion paper, titled “A Developmental State for South Africa”, Cosatu describes the developmental state as “a state that drives development, in contrast to a free-market approach”.
Also, the notion of a developmental state that helps benefit all citizens is important, given previous experiences when it comes to some of the policies adopted by government in the name of improving the lives of the marginalised majority.
For example, in 1994 the government adopted a seemingly progressive housing policy that there shall be housing for all, including the poor. But in implementing this policy the new settlements were located far from economic centres and jobs. (...)
This is an example of how a government, committed to housing its people, adopted an implementation plan that undermined the overall objective of improving people’s quality of life. An overall developmental approach would have ensured that there was an integrated plan that ensured people were housed in areas where they have affordable access to sources of economic livelihood.
The thrust of the debate about a developmental state in South Africa is that this country has not developed its economy in a manner that will achieve its overall developmental objectives to the benefit of all its citizens.
Instead the country adopted a macro-economic policy that saw it focusing on enticing foreign investors by removing trade barriers, thereby exposing its nascent manufacturing industry to the vagaries of industrialised economies like China.
During a recent interview, New Agenda Cambridge University professor Ha-Joon Chang argued that the South African government must be more interventionist in ensuring that it developed its manufacturing sector. (...)
