Dirk Hartford: What Vietnam got right: Lessons for SA from communist success story

Visiting Vietnam during its National Day celebrations offers a striking reminder of how dramatically the country has transformed since reunification after the Vietnam War in 1976. Despite remaining a one-party communist state, Vietnam has become one of the world's fastest-growing economies, recording growth of about 8% in 2025 while attracting record levels of tourism and foreign investment. The country projects an image of safety, industriousness and social stability that contrasts sharply with many developing nations. The ANC should revisit the lessons it drew from Vietnam for its liberation struggle and examine how it achieved sustained economic growth and poverty reduction after liberation..By Dirk Hartford.Greetings from one of the world's fastest-growing economies and one of the coolest and cheapest places to travel: the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, a one-party state led by the Vietnamese Communist Party.It is the middle of the National Day holidays here, and more than 100 million Vietnamese are celebrating the end of colonial rule on 2 September 1945 under the leadership of the venerated communist Ho Chi Minh.They are also commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of America's war in Vietnam, which culminated in the reunification of North and South Vietnam and the creation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976.The Americans lost more than 58,000 soldiers in that war. Estimates of civilian and military deaths across Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos run into the millions.The entire country is festooned with flags bearing either the yellow star of Vietnam or the hammer and sickle of communism on a bright red background.Fireworks, karaoke, cultural performances, family gatherings, and plenty of beer and ice go down. The country is in a rare holiday mood.Yet for the rest of the year, the overwhelming impression one gets is not of communism but of capitalism — and successful capitalism at that..Read more:.Dirk Hartford: ANC-SACP divorce - The death agony of the National Democratic Revolution.That is the paradox of modern Vietnam.Politically, it remains a one-party state. Economically, it has embraced markets, foreign investment, entrepreneurship and global trade with remarkable success.On the streets and in the countryside there is an extraordinary sense of industriousness. Everyone seems to be working. From school-going children helping family businesses to grandparents still engaged in productive activity, there is a palpable culture of effort and participation.Women are especially prominent across retail, hospitality, agriculture, manufacturing and small business.There are few visibly homeless people, few people begging and few sitting idly on street corners.The country has also developed a reputation among tourists — especially solo female travellers — for feeling exceptionally safe at all hours of the day and night.Visitors speak of the extraordinary quality of Vietnamese food: fresh, healthy, varied, delicious and remarkably affordable.They also speak of the warmth, kindness and helpfulness of ordinary Vietnamese people.Of course, every country has its problems and Vietnam is no exception. Corruption exists. Political dissent is controlled. Labour rights activists and government critics operate within narrow limits.But compared with many developing countries, especially South Africa, the dominant impression is one of order, stability and forward momentum.Vietnam's GDP expanded by roughly 8% in 2025. Over the past few decades, it has achieved one of the most dramatic reductions in poverty anywhere in the developing world.Foreign investment plays a major role in the economy. South Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Taiwanese companies operate large manufacturing facilities, particularly in electronics, garments and consumer goods. Vietnam is their cheap labour market.Combined with state-owned enterprises and increasingly powerful Vietnamese private conglomerates, this mixture has created jobs, driven exports and generated sustained economic growth.At the same time, concerns remain about low wages, tough working conditions, dependence on foreign capital, and how much value domestic firms ultimately retain.Tourism is booming. Vietnam welcomed nearly 21 million international visitors in 2025, a record, while neighbouring Thailand received approximately 33 million..Read more:.Hartford: The struggle generation that built non-racial SA — and the movement that betrayed it.Vietnam markets itself through its culture, history, cuisine and extraordinary natural beauty.It also enforces strict laws against recreational drugs and prostitution, both of which have become increasingly loaded social issues in Thailand.For travellers, Vietnam is cheaper than Thailand. Accommodation, food and local transport often cost significantly less, while many members of the growing digital nomad community report living comfortably on between $1,000 and $1,500 a month.The country is stable, increasingly prosperous and visibly confident about its future.Back in the struggle days, the ANC aired and examined the Vietnamese experience of national liberation.In the late 1970s, Oliver Tambo led a delegation to Vietnam to study the country's revolutionary strategy and organisational methods.The result was the ANC's influential Green Book of 1979, which helped shape its thinking on armed struggle, mass mobilisation and political organisation.It is time for South Africa to return to the Vietnamese drawing board.In 2025, Vietnam's economy grew by approximately 8%, while South Africa struggled to reach even 1% growth. Vietnam's unemployment rate is among the lowest in the world, manufacturing accounts for roughly a quarter of economic output, and exports continue to expand rapidly. Foreign direct investment remains strong as global companies shift production into the country.The comparison becomes even more striking when one considers that Vietnam emerged from decades of war as one of the poorest countries in Asia. Today its economy is approaching the size of Thailand's and has become a major manufacturing hub for electronics, consumer goods and technology products..Read more:.Vietnam’s communists, feted by ANC, embrace Musk and Milei’s Big State cuts.South Africa, by contrast, possesses far greater mineral wealth, deeper capital markets, stronger legal institutions and more abundant natural resources.Yet Vietnam grows at roughly three times South Africa's rate.The obvious differences are political systems, culture, history and geography. But beneath those differences lies a simpler question.How did a country devastated by war create a culture that prizes competence, education, manufacturing, exports and economic growth?And why, after three decades of democracy, has South Africa gone backwards on all of these metrics? Why has our main achievement been to destroy productive capacity, increase unemployment, and widen the gap between rich and poor?Those are not comfortable questions. But they are the questions South Africa should be asking..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.

Dirk Hartford: What Vietnam got right: Lessons for SA from communist success story

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