Here’s what South Africa’s Multiparty Charter stands for

We reported on the formation of South Africa’s Multiparty Charter last year. Now, in the run-up to May’s 2024 National Elections, South Africa’s Multiparty Charter has announced its manifesto and what it will do if it wins enough combined votes to govern.

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Made up of the DA, IFP, FF Plus, ActionSA and others, South Africa’s Multiparty Charter has drafted its manifesto. In it, the coalition explains how it plans to reduce unemployment and poverty by improving education, creating conditions for economic growth and global competitiveness.

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SOUTH AFRICA’S MULTIPARTY CHARTER

The plan was presented by ActionSA’s Herman Mashaba in Durban in this week, reports TimesLive. The parties represent the biggest alternative political bloc to the ANC ever, and have a pact to combine their electoral wins. And these are their agreed-upon principles.

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“The ANC’s mismanagement of our economy is not only reflected in our unemployment, which stands at 41.2%, but also in the pain South African households experience with the ever-rising cost of living. Our plan adopts a two-pronged approach which focuses on fostering the creation of conditions conducive to economic growth while simultaneously growing the skills base of our workforce,” Mashaba said.

MAKE SOUTH AFRICA GREAT AGAIN

• By removing barriers, position South Africa as a competitive market for innovation and investment.
• Introduce legislative measures to protect land, capital and intellectual property rights.
• Seek to create competitive local manufacturing and productive capacity.
• Reduce fuel prices by specifically targeting the general fuel levy, reforming fuel taxes, and deregulating the sector.
• Enhance the transparency of fiscal management to ensure value for money in government expenditure on infrastructure.
• Establish fiscal discipline on government borrowing by capping the debt-to-GDP ratio annually.
• Ensure the independence of the Reserve Bank.

SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISE

• Unleash the full potential of the SMME sector by tapping into the informal sector and introducing a broad range of regulatory exemptions for SMMEs.
• Raise SMMEs’ VAT threshold to R5-million turnover and exempt small businesses from all labour legislation other than the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
• Grow the skills base through visa-system reforms to allow scarce skills to enter South Africa.
• Future-proof the workforce by aligning skills development mechanisms with current and future economic needs.
• Improve the quality of education through the depoliticisation of the education system, enhancing curriculum delivery.
• Reintroduce teacher training colleges, implement performance-linked remuneration and establishing an inspectorate to ensure the delivery of quality education.

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This is the broad consensus of South Africa’s Multiparty Charter. Despite the combined effort, the charter says each individual party still maintains their own unique policies.

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