CAPE TOWN, South Africa needs a new perspective on economic transformation, said Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan when tabling the 2017 National Budget at a joint session of Parliament here Wednesday.

“To achieve sustained higher growth, there are also more fundamental, more radical transformation measures that are needed. These relate, in particular, to economic power,” he said, noting that the relationships between labour and capital, rich and poor, black and white, men and women, towns and townships, among others, still reflect the entrenched legacy of colonialism and apartheid.

“Wealth is produced and allocated along lines that remain fundamentally unjust. The ownership of assets and the distribution of income is captured by a minority of the population — a situation that is morally wrong and economically unsustainable. We agree with President Zuma that a new perspective on economic transformation is required.”

Gordhan said transformation must achieve a more balanced structure of ownership and control of the economy. He spoke of principles which should guide the national agenda and said they included:

* The litmus test of the country’s programmes must be what they do to create jobs, eliminate poverty and narrow the inequality gap;

* Transformation must be mass-based, benefiting the most disadvantaged South Africans through the creation of new assets, capabilities and opportunities to build livelihoods;

* South Africa must mobilise both private and public investment in social and economic infrastructure, new technologies and new activities that help build a modern and diversified economy;

* South Africa must continue to confront cartels and collusion robustly and provide new opportunities for access to markets; and

* Transformation must reshape cities and build linkages across the rural and urban landscapes, where fragmentation and separation are still characterised by past patterns.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK