It is bizarre that the SA Communist Party (SACP), on the left of the ANC alliance, has found it necessary to slap down the spectre of "nationali sation" raised by the rabble rousers in the ANC Youth League (ANCYL).
It's equally odd that ANCYL president Julius Malema, known for his taste for the good life, should pronounce himself a "Marxist-Leninist" whose goal is to liberate the working class.
But the strange anomalies make sense when one realises that "nationali sation", for example, is not a real debate.
There is no serious intention to nationali se SA's mines, even among those seeking the most radical change to the SA economy. Jeremy Cronin, the deputy secretary-general of the SACP and one of its leading theorists, has scathingly demolished the ANCYL's call for the nationali sation of the mines, pointing out that strategically it's not a good idea.
"It would land the state with the burden of managing down many mining sectors in decline," says Cronin. "It would burden the state with the responsibility of dealing with the massive cost of externalities' (such as environmental damage), and unintentionally bail out private capital (particularly BEE shareholders)."
Though nationalisation is not a real debate, there is a genuine discussion under way to examine the growth path of the economy.
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Finance minister Pravin Gordhan was the first to indicate that such a debate would be welcomed. In his first budget policy speech at the end of October, Gordhan proposed a debate on SA's economic growth path, complaining that not enough jobs were being created. He also said he would open discussions with the SA Reserve Bank governor on the need to balance lower inflation and employment.
The fact that SA's recent growth - even at 6% - was not sufficiently labour-absorbing is what is at issue. Says trade & industry minister Rob Davies: "Very simply, even before the recession, when SA had its longest period of economic growth, unemployment never fell below 22%. What that says is that reverting to the same growth path, even if it were possible, which I doubt, won't solve unemployment. There is a need for structural changes."
The discussion will take place in various forums. One is the Nedlac economic crisis task team, involving economic development minister Ebrahim Patel and representatives of business and labour. Patel has said the team is looking at "costs and benefits" of policies that could induce a more competitive exchange rate. Business Leadership SA chairman Bobby Godsell has said that public debates on the rand, inflation and interest rate policy are all important and that business is gearing up to participate.
A second is a macro economic task team - established after the recent Alliance summit - in which Cosatu and the SACP will exchange ideas with the ruling party. Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi says the federation is developing a "framework document" that will deal with everything from interest rate policy to the rand.
This spirit of engagement is in contrast to recent months of heated contestation. There has been frantic lobbying on the role of planning minister Trevor Manuel, and noisy mobili sation around issues important to the Left, such as the future of labour brokers and a national health insurance scheme. All of this has been accompanied by a fruitless debate on whether government policy has shifted Left - a debate conducted mainly among the media and political commentators.
But as talking begins, the dust is settling.
The first and biggest issue is the strength of the rand. It is common cause that the currency's strength is slowing exports and damaging SA's chances of economic recovery. So is there an alternative set of policies?
The most coherent alternative perspective comes from Cosatu. Cosatu's head of policy, Wits economics professor Chris Malikane, for instance, advocates a basket of policies in which interest rates would be equal to the growth rate, so that government has space to stimulate growth without incurring huge debt. And instead of borrowing large amounts to finance its deficit, government should print money in moderate amounts to "reflate the economy".
But most people in the ANC national executive or the cabinet wouldn't go that far. They are aware that even more conventional ideas, like the accumulation of foreign reserves or starting a sovereign growth fund, are not without large problems.
In the first case, the amount of reserves required would be far bigger than SA has the scope to accumulate; and in the second, SA's rate of savings is so low that building a savings fund abroad is not practical.
An ANC leader says the complexities of the alternatives mean the prospect of "hugely different policies" is not likely. "Everyone is concerned that the rand is strangling our exports. But the question is how to respond to it. Everyone agrees that it is not an easy matter to have a less expensive rand. So I am not sure that there is a hugely different package of policies."
By comparison, the debate on inflation targeting is a little easier.
Cosatu's perspective, that it is useless to use interest rates to target inflation when it is not being fuelled by excess demand but by external factors, is gaining ground. As a result, there is a belief that "many of the SA Reserve Bank's calls over the past year have been wrong", says an ANC leader, and that, while nobody wants rampant inflation, there is a case to be made to balance the effect on jobs with interest rate cuts.
There is also development in policy areas that relate to the real economy. One of these is industrial policy, which Davies describes as "a subset" of the measures that are needed to shape a new growth path. A new industrial policy plan will enter the cabinet process in January, says Davies, aiming to "step up" government support measures for the economy.
With macro economic alternatives somewhat limited, it is on the real economy that a good deal of attention is being focused. In addition to industrial policy, ANC leaders say fruitful discussions are taking place on issues such as spatial planning, water sustainability and energy policy, as well as a rethink of black economic empowerment.
So if nationali sation of the mines is not a real debate, what is the ANCYL's purpose in raising it?
Characteristic of the league's modus operandi is the search for issues around which it can mobili se loud populist support. Latching onto nationalisation, in a context of high unemployment and brewing discontent over housing and municipal services, is an easy rallying point.
There is also a suspicion that the agitation over nationali sation of mines is fed by troubled BEE companies looking to cash in their mining interests.
Adding fuel to this kind of speculation is the ANCYL's relationship with wealthy ANC figures, who have been generous with their assistance, providing air travel and hotel accommodation for youth leaders involved in lobbying at provincial conferences.
Cronin's dismantling of the ANCYL's nationalisation argument was more than a lesson in economics; it was barbed with comments about bling, aimed at ultimately cutting the conspicuous "Marxist-Leninist" down to size.
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