In-depth insight into SA economy entering deep freeze as Zuma leads way
By Ed Cropley
Now, weak growth, ideological turf wars in the ANC, cynicism and neglect by union bosses and management, and fallout from events such as the police killing of 34 strikers at a platinum mine in 2012 have left that model in tatters.
"We've lost all sense of good-faith bargaining. The bargaining is in the utmost bad faith."
RECESSION FEARS
Nationwide business confidence slumped to its lowest since the start of the millennium in May, while consumer data such as vehicle sales have shown 10 percent year-on-year declines in the last two months.
"Even if a recession is avoided, it will be cold comfort if the growth rate is a weak positive number," she said on Tuesday.
"It behoves us all – government, business and labour – to rebuild the confidence and trust that is an imperative to change the negative trajectory that the economy is presently on."
"Monetary policy can help staunch the bleeding but it cannot heal the patient," he said.
WEAK RAND
On top of it all, a weak rand has pushed inflation above the top end of the central bank's 3-6 percent target band, just as ratings agencies Standard and Poor's and Fitch draw up their latest views on the economy and government finances.
In the short-term, the ANC is inoculated from fallout from the poor state of the economy thanks to the 62 percent majority it won in May's election.
But it knows that without strong growth it cannot afford the social and healthcare policies it wants to roll out to address the inequalities left by decades of white-minority rule.
However, it is Zuma who is showing the strain.
The 72-year-old was admitted to hospital on Saturday after being told by aides and the ANC's top brass that he needed to rest after the exertions of the election.
Quickly discharged after "routine" tests, he is nevertheless missing a cabinet meeting this week, allowing his deputy, respected unionist-turned-tycoon Cyril Ramaphosa, to preside.
If his energy levels are lagging, he is even less likely to push for fundamental changes – from executive pay to strike laws to a migrant labour system in the mines that has changed little since the end of apartheid.
Zuma's strategy so far has been to talk vaguely of "radical socio-economic transformation" while pushing a National Development Plan (NDP) drawn up in his first term as a blue-print for reviving growth through infrastructure investment.
Even this relatively innocuous attempt to create jobs and make a dent in 25 percent unemployment has raised union hackles.
Its conclusion was stark: "It is a sacrifice they are ready to make, conscious of the fact that their united power can shake the bosses and halt production."