As the country experiences high unemployment in a struggling economy, ActionSA has pointed fingers at the failures of the government of national unity (GNU) that is led by the ANC.
The party on Tuesday stated that for more than a year, since the GNU was formed, South Africans have been betrayed by a coalition government that has failed to produce a single credible plan to address the country’s lack of growth and deepening unemployment crisis.
ActionSA MP Alan Beesley said economic growth has remained below 1% since the formation of the GNU, pointing out that there was only 0.8% growth of the economy for the second quarter of 2025.
“These numbers are a damning indictment of a government unwilling or unable to work together to deliver solutions for South Africans. The consequence is that every day more South Africans go home without work, are forced to close their businesses, and go to bed hungry,” said Beesley.
Illicit trade throttles growth
Beesley accused the GNU of refusing to confront its own industrial policy failures, visiting untold challenges on South Africans.
“As a result, South Africa is facing a jobs bloodbath in the manufacturing sector. While the legal economy is throttled, illicit trade thrives. The GNU limps along at less than 1% growth while illicit markets are expanding at multiple-percentage-point rates. Illicit alcohol volumes have grown by around 55% since 2017, and illicit cigarettes now account for roughly 60% of the market. SARS loses an estimated R18-billion to illicit cigarettes annually, while losses from illicit alcohol are pegged at around R16.5-billion each year. These criminal markets are expanding because the government is not addressing illicit trade with the urgency it demands, costing the fiscus tens of billions that could have been used to fight unemployment and rebuild public services,” said Beesley.
His statement comes against the backdrop of the massive job-shedding announcement made by ArcelorMittal South Africa, which is one of the second-biggest steel producers in the world.
The company announced that it will cut the jobs of over 4 000 people, as the entity is planning to shut down its steel plants in Newcastle and Vereeniging and restructure operations at Vanderbijlpark.
The job shedding at ArcelorMittal will not only affect the people working within the company, however, it will also deal a blow to many other companies, some of which are SMEs. These entities, in turn, will also be forced to shed jobs.
