A new growth charter is urgent if SA is to rescue its economy

South Africa’s democratic journey has not been without achievement. Over three decades, we have built institutions that have shown resilience in their often imperfection. Our Constitution remains a powerful and enduring framework, and a beacon for rights, accountability and justice.

We have witnessed peaceful transitions of power, not only at the national level, but in municipalities across the country. And today, we find ourselves in a new era of multiparty governance, with the Government of National Unity (GNU) marking a significant evolution from one-party dominance.

In fact, just the appearance of a former president before the courts is a testament to the rule of law taking root. These are no small feats. They are signs that our democracy, though strained, is not broken.

That being true, while our political structures have held, the economic foundations of our country remain dangerously unstable.

Over the past few weeks, the national debate has been consumed by talk of a tight fiscal space, of looming VAT hikes, deep spending cuts and a Budget process cornered by economic stagnation. South Africans are rightly angry about the political malaise as one party fights another while we are forced to watch in limbo.

But this is a trap we cannot afford to walk into year after year. If we want to avoid a future defined by austerity and decline, we need an economy that is growing, a tax base that is expanding and fewer people wholly dependent on the state.

Freedom’s promise unfulfilled

This is the frame we must consider in the lead-up to Freedom Day this year. On 27 April 1994, millions of South Africans stood in queues, not just to vote, but to finally step into the promise of freedom. That day marked the end of apartheid’s tyranny and the dawn of democracy. It was a triumph of hope over history and a moment that inspired the world.

Today, the promise of freedom has not been fulfilled or actualised. While we gained political freedom, that is but one component. More so, freedom is the right to work, to learn, to live in dignity and to build a future. And by these deeper measures, far too many South Africans remain locked out of the dream that 1994 represented.

Today, more than 8.6 million South Africans are unemployed, most of them young, black, and under 35. Our cost of living has soared to unbearable heights. Load shedding continues to cripple productivity. Crime is rampant. Our public education system is among the most unequal in the world.

What we’re witnessing is not simply economic hardship. It is an unfaithfulness to the democratic promise. South Africa is stuck in a low-growth, high-debt trap.

For two decades, we’ve had political leadership that managed decline instead of building prosperity. We’ve had slogans without solutions. Budget cuts without a bold vision for expansion – and corruption without consequences.

And so, 31 years after liberation, many are poorer, hungrier and more disillusioned than they were a decade ago.

Growth charter

That is why Build One South Africa (Bosa) is launching A growth charter for South Africa: A path to 5% economic growth.

This charter is our blueprint for unlocking real, broad-based economic freedom. It is not a list of campaign promises. It is a national strategy, one that speaks to every entrepreneur waiting for a fair shot, every young person hungry to work, every parent dreaming of a better life for their child.

We reject the idea that all we can do is cut spending and hope for stability. South Africa cannot cut its way out of poverty. We must grow our way out.

And we must be unapologetic in our ambition: nothing less than 5% economic growth, driven by a clear, people-centred agenda. The charter is built around five bold pillars:

1. Unlocking jobs and entrepreneurship: we will radically simplify hiring and business registration, especially for small and medium enterprises. Labour-intensive sectors — from construction to renewable energy to agri-processing — will receive targeted support to create jobs fast. A national youth service and apprenticeship programme will ensure no young person is left idle;


2. Fixing basic education and aligning it with the future economy: We cannot grow an economy if eight out of 10 children can’t read for meaning by age 10. We will fix teacher training, end the 30% pass mark, and link every high school with real-world skills programmes, especially in coding, green tech and trade skills. Education must prepare children to participate in, and lead, the modern economy;


3. Delivering affordable and reliable energy: Energy is the lifeblood of growth. We support a decentralised, diversified energy model, with municipalities empowered to procure independently, and the private sector enabled to invest massively in renewables. Load shedding must end. Energy poverty must end;


4. Infrastructure as a driver of growth: Infrastructure investment is not just about roads and bridges. It’s about access. Access to markets. Access to work. We will overhaul procurement to eliminate corruption and channel funds into labour-intensive, high-impact infrastructure: broadband roll-outs, rail revitalisation and township economy hubs; and


5. An ethical, capable state that works: Corruption is not just theft. It is the destruction of opportunity. Bosa will digitise public services, slash red tape and institute an independent, anti-corruption agency with teeth. We will professionalise the civil service and restore pride in public duty.

At 5% sustained growth, South Africa can double its economy within 14 years. That means jobs, homes, functional hospitals and schools that work. It means reversing the hopelessness that fuels crime, emigration and disillusionment.

We’ve seen it in Rwanda. In Ghana. In Vietnam. Countries with less potential than ours have turned things around with bold, citizen-focused plans. South Africa has the talent. We have the resources. What we need now is the will.

We must be honest with ourselves this Freedom Day. The vote of 1994 was not the final destination. It was the first step on a long journey toward justice and dignity.

It is now up to a new generation to complete that journey — not through protest alone — but through policy, participation and purpose. We must say enough to performative politics. Enough to empty promises. It is time to build. Time to grow.

The growth charter is not Bosa’s vision alone. It is a national invitation to citizens, civil society, business and the youth to build an economy that includes everyone.

Freedom must mean something more. And it can. But only if we make it so. DM