A South African opposition leader on Monday advised President Cyril Ramaphosa to use the country’s internal finance sources to resuscitate the economy following the coronavirus pandemic before turning to Bretton Woods institutions.
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema’s advice to Ramaphosa followed that of other political and labour leaders in the country, who are opposed to seeking financial help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank for post-coronavirus economic recovery.
“We are in a crisis, and we should first internally exhaust all local avenues to save our country from the crisis before we rush to the IMF and World Bank,” Malema said on Sunday night.
He said the South African Reserve Bank “must play a far bigger role to making money available to government.”
Malema was speaking in a televised Freedom Day message to the nation following the cancellation of the day’s public events due to the nationwide lockdown.
He noted that contrary to government thinking, allowing the IMF and the World Bank to finance the economic recovery would lead the two bodies to interfere in the country’s closely guarded sovereignty.
“It is a fact that the IMF and World Bank would interfere with our sovereignty if we owe them money,” he said.
Ramaphosa announced last week that US$500 billion was needed to rebuild the economy after the coronavirus pandemic that has seen South Africa and her neighbours ground to a standstill as workers were advised to stay home.
The government has expressed desire to approach the Breton Woods bodies, African Development Bank, and the BRICS Development Bank as possible funders of the economic recovery project.
Malema’s assertions follow those of officials from the ruling African National Congress party and its affiliates, South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions, who also pleaded with the government to avoid approaching the IMF or World Bank for financial assistance in the aftermath of the pandemic.
NM/jn/APA