Deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa slammed state capture and government corruption on the campaign trail at the weekend, calling it the biggest obstacle to trade growth and investment in South Africa. Writing in an op-ed piece for Business Day on Monday, he said that SA should target 3% GDP growth in 2018, rapidly rising to 5% growth by 2023. “An immediate priority is to restore confidence among investors as SA should greatly increase levels of investment from the current level of less than 20% of gross domestic product (GDP) to the National Development Plan target of 30% of GDP. Furthermore funds “stolen” from state-owned enterprises (SOEs) must be returned to the people, Ramaphosa said during a visit last Sunday to Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini at his King Osuthu Royal Palace. “We want to bring an end to corruption that is taking place in our SoEs,” he said, adding that blockages to business activity must be removed, regulatory uncertainty reduced and red tape cut.
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