Note to editors: the following speech was delivered today by BOSA Leader, Mmusi Maimane MP, at the launch of the party’s Growth Charter in Tshwane. The full document can be accessed here.
Today we mark Freedom Day amidst an ever-changing political landscape, one that is maturing, evolving and learning to become a better government for the people of South Africa. This is worth celebrating.
We gather just days after BOSA, alongside ten other political parties, got around the table and negotiated to reverse the proposed 0.5 percentage point VAT increase.
BOSA stayed the course and did the hard work, even when it was tough, thankless and at times unpopular. We remained in the room, driving solutions and putting South Africans first at every turn.
And today, we say thank you who stood with us, who raised their voices, and who demanded better. You trusted the process, and that trust was proved well put.
This is your Freedom Day gift – proof that principled leadership, collective pressure, and people power can deliver real change.
Fellow South Africans,
We must be honest and recognise that this was but one victory in a sea of perennial failures and shortcomings.
As we mark 31 years since the birth of our democracy, the painful truth is that political freedom alone has not delivered economic dignity.
That is why we gather here today – not just to honour history – but to chart a new course. A course toward shared prosperity, toward real opportunity, and toward a future where freedom doesn’t end at the ballot box.
On this very day in 1994, millions of South Africans stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the longest queues this country had ever seen. I remember those images. We all do.
Old men in threadbare coats. Mothers with babies on their backs. Youth with bright eyes and restless hearts. They waited not just for a vote; they waited for a new beginning.
But if we’re honest with ourselves today — brutally honest — we must admit for too many South Africans, that new beginning never came.
I think of Thandi, a 26-year-old graduate from the Eastern Cape. First in her family to get a degree. Four years on, still no job. Her parents survive on a small pension. Her dreams, once so vivid, now gather dust with each passing rejection letter.
I think of Dumisani, a small-scale plumber in Alexandra. He’s talented, hardworking, and has trained two apprentices. But he can’t get a business licence without bribes. He can’t afford the mountains of paperwork. And every month, the high cost of living sets his income back days.
I think of Ma Pulane, a grandmother in Sebokeng. She’s raising her grandchildren alone. Every week she walks past an unfinished housing project, abandoned by contractors who were paid but never delivered. There’s water supply, sometimes. Electricity, but not when it matters. A government, but no service.
These are not isolated stories. These are the stories of a broken economic promise — repeated across every province, in every township, every informal settlement, and every rural village.
Today we do not gather to mourn our missed chances — we gather to seize a new one.
Build One South Africa is proud to unveil our ambitious Growth Charter for South Africa. It is a bold, practical and visionary path to achieve 5% economic growth within three years.
Not someday. Not maybe. Not “if the conditions are right.” But with urgency and determination.
Fellow South Africans, 5% growth isn’t just a number. It means jobs. It means dignity. It means choice.
At 5% growth, we can create over a million jobs. We can close the budget deficit. We can grow SMMEs, attract investment, and raise incomes. It’s the engine we need to lift millions out of poverty and into opportunity.
Our Growth Charter is not a dream. It is a blueprint. A plan grounded in data, driven by evidence, and inspired by global best practice – from Asia to Africa, from the Americas to our own continent.
Let me take you through it.
1. Ease of Doing Business Reform. South Africa ranks 84th in the world — we must aim for the top 50 at least. In Rwanda, you can register a business in six hours. Here, it can take six weeks. We will fully digitise company registration, automate licensing, and modernise customs. Entrepreneurs like Dumisani shouldn’t be punished for trying, they should be empowered to thrive and create value, wealth and jobs.
2. Infrastructure Investment. China invests 40% of its GDP in infrastructure. We’re below 20%. It’s no wonder our roads, rail, and ports are falling apart. We propose a massive rollout of modern SEZs with tax incentives, fast-tracked 5G and broadband expansion, and major investments in public transport – from taxis to trains. We will change our framing of Infrastructure from a cost to a catalyst.
3. Public-Private Partnerships. 78% of our infrastructure is funded by government. But global best practice shows that when business works with government — as in Chile or India — delivery speeds up, and quality improves. We propose a new PPP Advisory Unit in Treasury to fast-track private-sector involvement in water, energy, transport, and more.
4. Support for SMMEs and Entrepreneurs. SMMEs make up 40% of GDP but get only 6% of bank loans. That’s a scandal. We propose a national microfinance and credit guarantee scheme, tax relief for startups, and fintech partnerships to ease access to capital. We aim to grow the share of SMME loans to 20% by 2027.
5. Labour Market Reform. We must link training to jobs. Germany’s dual education system shows the way. We will scale up TVET colleges, partner with the private sector for apprenticeships, and regulate the gig economy to create fair, flexible work especially for young people. We cannot accept a 45% youth unemployment rate. The goal is to reduce it to under 30% by 2027.
6. Energy Security. Loadshedding cost us R365 billion in 2024 — one billion rand per day. You cannot grow an economy without consistent and affordable energy. We must decentralise electricity, open the market to private producers, and incentivise rooftop solar. With clear targets such as 10GW of private generation, zero days of loadshedding by 2027, we can stabilise the grid and power up growth.
7. Water Supply. We lose 37% of our municipal water through leaks and mismanagement. We must fix ageing infrastructure, roll out smart meters, and invest in desalination in water-scarce cities.
8. Trade Expansion. South Africa cannot build wealth by exporting only raw materials. We must shift to value-added goods: processed foods, textiles, manufactured exports. By leveraging AfCFTA and boosting export financing, we aim to halve the trade deficit and double manufacturing exports within three years.
Fellow South Africans,
These are not pie-in-the-sky ideas. They are grounded, costed, and tested in many other countries. If they can do it, so can we. We must be ambitious and determined.
But it will require a new kind of government — one that is ethical, agile, and delivery-focused.
A government that understands that economic growth is the enabler of justice.
Because the truth is this: when the economy grows, people find work. When people work, families are fed. Communities stabilise. Crime drops. Hope returns.
Let us be the generation that actualizes the promise of 1994.
Let this day, Freedom Day 2025, be remembered not only as a commemoration but as a turning point.
The day we said: Enough with mere survival. We choose growth and progress.
The day we declared: Let’s Build One South Africa — and let’s grow it, together.
Media Statement by
Roger Solomons: BOSA Spokesperson
Sunday 27 April 2025
Media Enquiries:
Roger Solomons – BOSA Spokesperson – 072 299 3551