South Africa should take lessons from Greece in order to protect its economy, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said on Thursday.

The European country recently found itself in deep financial crisis, resulting in its dependence on a major financial bailout to continue functioning. 

Speaking at an event held in Sandton, hosted by the British Chamber of Business in Southern Africa, Maimane said Greece's plight should jolt South Africa into action.

"They didn’t wake up one day and find themselves heavily indebted and unable to meet their obligations. Their crisis was a long time coming, but they failed to act when the signs were there. Without being alarmist, some of those signs are here in South Africa too," Maimane said.

"We’re nowhere near Greece’s situation yet but, in many respects, we’re heading in the same direction. Our debt is getting away from us, our public sector wage bill is way too high, corruption – both in government and the private sector - is rampant and our savings rate is too low."

He said South Africa still had the time to rectify the situation if it acted quickly and decisively.

Maimane said the economy depended on what the country's citizens did to protect and preserve it.

He highlighted several failures of the current government including the millions of rands which were spent on upgrades of President Jacob Zuma's homestead in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal.

"The ANC's greatest crime is not Nkandla, but it is their failure to educate the black child," he said.

He spoke of a need for better quality education and highlighted that in rural areas, girl children still missed days of school because of basic sanitary essentials.

Maimane said a lot of work needed to be put into protecting the country's democracy and it would all begin with protecting the various institutions.

He called for the respect of the Chapter Nine institutions, the judiciary and the independence of the SA Revenue Service and the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP).

He called for a review of the process of the appointment of the NDPP head because he said this was meant to be a person who could hold the president accountable.

"[Zuma] appoints the head of the NPA, the head of the SIU, the Military Command of the Defence Force, the National Police Commissioner, the Governor of the Reserve Bank, SARS Commissioners, and the list goes on and on," Maimane said.

"We can talk all we like about reviving our economy, supporting entrepreneurs and growing jobs, but if we don’t protect the foundations on which our democracy was built, this will all come to nothing," he said.

News24.com