column published in Rapport<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHe referenced Greece, which faced significant economic turmoil in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The country was plagued by soaring debt, a bloated public sector, and systemic corruption. It was forced to implement stringent reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Greece initiated austerity measures, pension cuts, and tax hikes to secure bailout packages under the watchful eye of its international creditors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These reforms faced a public backlash. However, it stabilised the economy and reduced the country\u2019s debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Greece\u2019s economy is now recovering with improved fiscal discipline, increased foreign investment, and a resurgence in tourism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has also started to side with the Western world on many issues, like the war in Ukraine. It has secured a lot of goodwill from countries like the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
De Ruyter said South Africa\u2019s government can turn the country around and grow the economy by following Greece\u2019s example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He advised South Africa to implement policies that would work to grow the economy and avoid mistakes of the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He cautioned against things like National Health Insurance (NHI), driving investors away with empowerment and procurement policies, and siding with rogue countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Should this continue, De Ruyter said, the rand will lose more value, our debt will rise and get more expensive, and we will lose international friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSkilled young people will continue to leave the country, and our stock market will continue to shrink,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He cautioned that South Africa\u2019s NHI could be the equivalent of Zimbabwe\u2019s land reform and farm grabs \u2013 the last step of a total economic collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It can be avoided, but only if the right policies are implemented. The alternative is to make the same mistakes as in the past and see the country deteriorate further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa to support countries based on its interests<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn a Nuuspod interview, De Ruyter urged South Africa to support countries based on its interests rather than friendships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said South Africa is a small country that does not feature much in the United States. \u201cWe are irrelevant to the average American,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The country should, therefore, serve its interests through international affairs to make itself more relevant among investors and trading partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He quoted former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who said, \u201cAmerica has no permanent friends or enemies, only interest\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
De Ruyter said a country should not support another country because of friendship. Instead, it should base its support on serving its interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSouth Africa has many friends. However, we do not always strive to serve the country\u2019s interests,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A good example is South Africa\u2019s recent decision to take Israel to the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It received support from the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), Malaysia, Turkey, Jordan, Bolivia, Pakistan, the Arab League, Brazil, and Colombia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, countries which support Israel include many of South Africa\u2019s trading partners, including the United States, Germany, and the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa is, therefore, positioning itself with global friends, which will not help advance its interests. It also risks souring relations with its biggest economic partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nRead: Alarm bells for retailers in South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Andre de Ruyter advises how South Africa could attract investors and fuel economic growth to avoid the fate of Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":647059,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[853],"class_list":["post-745649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-opinion","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745649"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":745663,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745649\/revisions\/745663"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=745649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=745649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}