P. M. BRIEFING : Sanctions Toll: 500,000 Jobs
Foreign sanctions imposed on South Africa have cost the country 500,000 jobs and billions of dollars since 1985, a leading economist said.
The study by Chris van Wyk, chief executive of the Bankorp banking group, also said foreign investment and trade bans have hurt blacks the most. “The harshest burden of sanctions has fallen on them,” he said, adding that 80% of new job-seekers are black.
The study said sanctions and the pullout of foreign investment since 1985 cost $16 billion in foreign exchange, resulting in production losses of about $32 billion and total spending loss of about $45 billion, based on the average value of the country’s currency, the rand, during that period.
Despite the sanctions, South Africa’s economy still is considered the strongest and most diversified on the continent.
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