Fast Facts no 09 - September 2011

Contents:

• Monitoring freedom
  The Rainbow Index is an annual monitor of political and economic freedom in South Africa.It covers ten essential ‘pillarsof democracy’. On most pillars,scores have declined since 1994.

• Effective Government
  A key objective of the ruling party’s national democratic revolution is to ‘democratise’ all state organs by making them demographically representative and staffed with deployed cadres. The result, given the skills deficit, is increasing incompetence in the discharge of the State’s core responsibilities.

• Scope for free enterprise
  Economic growth rides on entrepreneurship, which can flourish only in a suitable environment. But the business climate has deteriorated, partly because of global factors but also because of over-regulation, poor skills and productivity, high costs and inadequate infrastructure, and threats of nationalisation from organisations allied to the ruling party.

• Growth-focused policies
  Rapid economic growth is vital to increased prosperity and the consolidation of democracy. However, South Africa has again fared badly on the five factors making for growth.

• Fast Stats