Recovery plan shows Ramaphoria no longer a stand-in for tough reforms - economists

President Cyril Ramaphosa's tabling of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan in Parliament showed that the president was aware that South Africa had painted itself into a tough corner economically, according to economists who discussed the document on Friday.

During a Governance and Accountability Project debate webinar organised by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and the Brenthurst Foundation on Friday economists unpacked the details of the plan which sought to guide South Africa's economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The South African economy was already in bad shape before the pandemic hit earlier this year, but the pandemic aggravated economic difficulties, wiping out more than two million jobs in the second quarter of this year and causing the economy to contract by 16.4% compared to the previous quarter.