Economist Xhanti Payi says the business sector needs to play a leading role in helping the economy back on its feet.
On Tuesday, South Africa slipped into a technical recession.
Growth fell by 0.7% in the second quarter, following a 2.2 decline in the first quarter of 2018.
The largest contribution to the slowdown in growth came from agriculture.
Payi says job creation and skills development are crucial to help the economy bounce back.
“I think sometimes our government’s capacity is lacking in terms of pushing people in the right kinds of spaces so people can see the opportunities and be supported. Government is not going to be the one that drives growth. People need to tell the government what they need to do in the economy.”
“So if I see a piece of land I should be able to tell government, I think I can do this and that – can you support me with the right legislation and infrastructure – and then it works, not the other way around. The way it has happened is that government first tells entrepreneurs and business people what to do in the economy and that is a very dangerous thing because they think, that is not what I think is going to work,” explains Payi.
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