Quality education key to future economic growth

BLACK South Africans need to obtain quality education in order to access opportunities. It may well be agreed that 2016 was indeed an eventful year in a number of respects, particularly on the political scene.

But if recent political events, domestically and globally, from Gambia to the US, are anything to go by, 2017 promises to be yet another rollercoaster ride.

Reality and shock have had to settle in soon – as of January 21, Donald Trump officially became the president of the US.

On the same day, disgraced and defeated former Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh and his family fled Gambia into political exile, ending a 22-year reign of terror and a post-election political standoff that threatened to provoke a regional military intervention as he sought to hang on to power.

While these are important issues that will have direct and indirect consequences for South Africa, we have our own burning domestic issues that should be a priority.

I have always believed that if black people in SA put all their effort into obtaining quality education, opportunities in the economic space, employment, market access and business opportunities would come almost autothree

Education is – and will always be – the fundamental necessity for any society that wishes to move itself forward.

We must demand that government offer quality education and proper infrastructure to all areas of education in South Africa. Yes, we must demand that. We must also demand of the young people that they exert themselves and work hard to be the best in their chosen academic spaces.

We must encourage those people who want to go into business to make the necessary sacrifices.

We must encourage those employed to put their best effort into their jobs.

If people do all the above, then the big missing point is the creation of opportunities in the South African economy for all to get involved in the mainstream economy.

It is becoming clear to me that unless those who are in power (and this includes business owners, board members and executives in the private sector) recognise the fact that the allocation of resources and opportunities is skewed and that market forces on their own will not correct the situation without a deliberate intervention by this group, this blight will forever remain with us.

The National Development Plan (NDP) is left with less than 15 years to achieve the ambitious goals and targets of 2030.

While the NDP must remain our longterm plan, what we are missing are immediate, short-term and medium-term plans.

Education is and will always be the fundamental necessity for any society that wishes to move itself forward

In 2017, we must rearrange the economic space to start accommodating those who have done what needs to be done.

By this, I mean education, acquiring experiences, taking sacrifices in their businesses etc.

We need to ensure that we mark 2017 as the year of action in this regard. We can no longer afford the luxury of analysing the failures of black economic empowerment.

This analysis paralysis has consumed us to the extent that others are using it as an excuse to maintain the status quo.

The business community must also stop creating the impression that we are waiting for government policy and clarification.

Frankly, this is becoming a lame excuse.

We can see that other communities are excluded from accessing the markets and we have the powers to do something about that.

Sadly, in SA we like to skate around this issue because we are good at blaming others.

Yes, we do have problems on the government and public sector fronts and we must be vigilant in the country about our demand for accountable and responsible leadership, but we cannot work in a linear way.

We cannot wait for the politics to be sorted before we start economic rearrangement.

The longer the current state persists, that is, some communities being excluded from mainstream business opportunities in SA, the more new generations will believe that this is a norm and is acceptable.

If there is a need to debate, let us do so, but we don’t have the luxury of long theoretical discussions that are not being implemented.

Implementation of immediate plans by affording inclusive employment opportunities to those who already have the qualifications and providing market access to those in business but are kept on the periphery should be the immediate action in 2017.

● Ntsaluba, a co-founder of SizweNtsalubaGobodo, is now chairman of NMT Capital and WZ Capital. This article first appeared in the Business Day.