Chairperson, as we have already heard a couple of times today, originally the meaning of a developmental state was linked to the build-up and growth of Japan as an industrial nation after World War II, which later was also linked to other Asian developing economies such as Korea and Taiwan.
Chalmers Johnson, the American political scientist, explained the role of the developmental state in the modern economy as follows:
A state attempting to match the economic achievements of Japan must adopt the same priorities as Japan. It must first ... be a developmental state - and only then a regulatory state, a welfare state, an equality state, or whatever other kind of functional state a society we may wish to adopt.
Jac Laubscher, die groepekonoom van Sanlam, interpreteer dit dat 'n ontwikkelingstaat op 'n enkeldoelwit gefokus is, naamlik om die hoogste moontlike ekonomiese groeikoers te behaal. Die res, met inbegrip van die verdeling van ekonomiese groeivoordele, moet hieraan onderworpe wees. Laubscher beskryf in sy artikel "Die Suid-Afrikaanse ontwikkelingstaat: mite of realiteit?" die eienskappe soos volg:
[een,] 'n klein, maar elite-, meritokratiese burokrasie, wat die staat se nywerheidsbeleid formuleer en uitvoer. Die burokrasie ... word gemotiveer deur nasionale belang en nie eie belang nie ... [; twee,] 'n politieke stelsel wat aan die burokrasie genoeg ruimte gee om inisiatief te neem en effektief op te tree ... [; drie,] ... 'n leidinggewende organisasie [is nodig] wat beslag kan gee aan ... insentiewe vir die privaatsektor ... toegang tot insette waarborg, kapitaal op voorkeurbasis beskikbaar stel, risiko's verlaag, 'n entrepreneursvisie verskaf en konflik tussen ondernemings bestuur[; vier,] 'n unieke verhouding van interafhanklikheid en simbiose tussen die burokrasie en die privaatsektor [met] voordeel [vir albei; en laastens,] die vervolmaking van markkonformerende metodes van staatsinmenging. [Met] die ... fokus op uitvoere ... in die bevordering van ekonomiese groei ... veroorsaak [dit] dat staatsinmenging ... markondersteunend moet wees en nie markvervangend nie ...
[Dit bevestig dat] die ontwikkelingstaat ... 'n bepaalde institusionele opset [impliseer] waarin die rol van ... die privaatsektor, deurslaggewend is.
Ooglopend geld bogenoemde ni in Suid-Afrika se geval nie, en het ons in wese eerstens 'n herverdelende staat wat gefokus is op die transformasie van die ekonomie en die samelewing, en tweedens 'n regulerende staat omdat ons soveel kere spesifieke uitkomste wil bewerkstellig. Suid-Afrika is duidelik ni 'n ontwikkelingstaat nie, en die staat se rol in ons vryemarkekonomie moet eerder verder uitgedaag word. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Jac Laubscher, the group economist of Sanlam, interprets it as a developmental state which is focused on a single goal, namely achieving the highest possible economic growth rate. The rest, including the division of economic growth advantages, must be subject to this. In his article "The South African developmental state: myth or reality?", Laubscher describes these characteristics as follows:
[one,] a small, but elite, meritocratic bureaucracy, which formulates and executes the state's industrial policy. This bureaucracy ... is motivated by national interest and not self-interest ... [two,] a political system which provides the bureaucracy with enough space to use its own initiative and act effectively ... [; three,] an organisation which supplies leadership [is needed] to settle ... incentives for the private sector ... guarantee access to inputs, make capital available on a preferential basis, reduce risks, supply entrepreneurial vision and manage conflict between enterprises [; four,] a unique relationship of mutual dependency and symbiosis between the bureaucratic and private sector [with] advantages [for both; and lastly,] the perfection of market conforming methods of state intervention. [With] the ... focus on exports ... [this] means that state intervention ... should be market supporting and not market replacing ... in the promotion of economic growth ...
[This confirms that] the developmental state ... [implies] a certain institutional arrangement in which the role of ... the private sector proves conclusive.
Obviously the above does not hold in South Africa's case, and we essentially have, firstly, a redistributive state focussed on the transformation of the economy and society, and secondly, a regulating state because we want to achieve specific results so many times. South Africa is clearly not a developmental state, and the state's role in our free market economy should rather be challenged further.]