Tariffs must jolt SA from slumber - The Citizen

South Africa's economy is a sleeping beauty: barely conscious, with projected growth ofjust 1% this year. Now, it has received a wakeup call: a bracing 30% tariff kiss from the US.

Harsh as it is, this tariff shock should jolt us out of our economic slumber. It is a signal that complacency and torpor will lead to further decline.

The US has made clear it wants serious trade partners, not romantic antiWestern gestures.

The cost of ignoring this message will be measured in jobs lost, from Addo's citrus orchards to the automotive plants of the Eastern Cape. Yet, instead of rising to the challenge, our government continues to mumble in its sleep. Trade talks are desultory, unfocused, and slow.

There are no bold offers, no clear asks. No sense of urgency, no ambitious vision for the future. It's as if we've accepted stagnation as our fate.

But the choice is still ours. We can rouse our economy by securing trade access, restoring investor confidence and adopting reforms that signal seriousness: secure property rights, exemptions from destructive racebased rules, and friendlier foreign policy. T

hese would cost little and unlock much. Fairy tales require bold action.

So far, Pretoria prefers the comfort of dreams. But a wakeup call has been delivered. Will we rise or hit snooze?

Dr John Endres

CEO, Institute of Race Relations