This is the sort of person I want to see lead the country
For obvious reasons, there is much talk of who should become the next president of the ANC and hence president of the country. I often get asked who my preferred candidate is. So, let me answer this the way I always do.
A president of the ANC and the country is someone who is willing to prioritise the interests of the citizens of SA ahead of his or her own. It is someone who respects the Constitution and the role of the National Assembly.
It is someone who has personal dignity and the acumen to understand the importance of sound economic policies and how these translate into job creation. He or she does not have to have an economic background, but they need to appreciate the urgent need to appoint a credible finance minister who can, with the help of an independent Reserve Bank, steer the country in the right economic and fiscal direction.
It is someone who commands international respect and who can represent and promote SA on the global stage, attracting support and investment interest. This is critical to get infrastructure programmes off the ground and start reducing unemployment from the current staggering 27.7%.
It is someone who will appoint competent boards of directors to all state-owned enterprises and give them authority to appoint competent management teams that will focus on efficiencies, building of capacity and rooting out corruption.
It is someone who will appoint a highly experienced education minister who can convene advisory boards to determine what the future of education in SA should look like, given the advances in technology. With the right strategies, there is no reason we cannot provide free, relevant education to the next generation of South Africans.
It is someone who will choose foreign partners carefully and with consideration for what SA gets out of the relationship.
Cosying up to Russia at a point when other countries are applying sanctions and the country is weighed down by low oil prices is not necessarily the wisest course of action and may close doors to Europe that we do not want to close.
It is someone who understands the impact technology will have on jobs and recognises the urgent need to start having conversations on the global stage about the impact this will have on manual workers.
I want a president who can bring together business, civil society and trade unions and agree a gameplan that gets SA out of a flatlining economy and out of junk status. It will not be easy, but with sufficient goodwill on all sides and some compromises, we can finally start talking about inclusive growth and mean it.
It is someone who strengthens institutions such as the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority and can negotiate our way out of the corrupt mess we find ourselves in. Compromises may need to be reached, but the stick that is wielded needs to be big, against corruption in both the private and the public sector.
It is someone who is willing to reconsider black economic empowerment regulation and revise it in such a way that we can incorporate more South Africans into the formal sector. We can no longer ignore the glaring poverty trap that so many find themselves in.
It is someone who can unify SA across both race and tribal lines, with the sensitivity to understand that some wounds will take a long time to heal. It is someone who Nelson Mandela would have endorsed without hesitation.