{"id":773711,"date":"2024-05-27T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=773711"},"modified":"2024-05-27T06:44:09","modified_gmt":"2024-05-27T04:44:09","slug":"south-africas-economy-grew-slower-than-zimbabwe-but-ramaphosa-celebrated-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/773711\/south-africas-economy-grew-slower-than-zimbabwe-but-ramaphosa-celebrated-it\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa\u2019s economy grew slower than Zimbabwe – but Ramaphosa celebrated it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

President Cyril Ramaphosa celebrated South Africa\u2019s economic growth even though it was much worse than all its peers and neighbours, including Zimbabwe and Mozambique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On multiple occasions, Ramaphosa claimed the ruling ANC did a fantastic job to ensure the \u201ceconomy has tripled in size since 1994\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his 2024 State of the Nation Address (SONA), he said the government has worked to revive the economy from a decade of stagnation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have made progress. Our economy is today three times larger than it was 30 years ago,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He repeated the claim during his Freedom Day speech on 27 April, saying the ruling party was correcting past injustices and working to realise the full potential of an economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough there have been setbacks, although we have faced challenges both beyond our borders and at home, our economy has tripled in size since 1994,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramaphosa was even more aggressive in his speech when he signed the controversial National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He likened the opposition to the NHI Bill to the fear of everyone getting to vote in South Africa and workers getting the right to strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany employers were fearful that workers will now have the right to strike, which will destroy the economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInstead, having won the right to strike, we have been able to grow the economy almost threefold since the days of Apartheid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis shows there was nothing to fear. They just feared ghosts,\u201d Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, tripling the economy over 30 years is dismal. Using absolute figures for three decades is disingenuous and makes things sound much better than they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To put South Africa\u2019s economic growth into perspective, it is important to compare it to other countries or other periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n