Let’s return to the goals of the
To improve the South African economy, we need to institute practical measures to effect change
As we enter a new decade, President Cyril Ramaphosa faces the daunting task of rebuilding a deteriorating economy that is beset by staggering corruption and the appointment of incompetent officials.
Principled leadership is required in all spheres of government to put the country on a path of economic growth and to improve the quality of governance. The past decade was dominated by a great deal of lip service rather than instituting practical measures to mitigate and work towards solving the issues facing the country.
The government adopted the National Development Plan (NDP) at the beginning of the past decade as its blueprint for eliminating poverty and reducing inequality by 2030. However, most of the key objectives of the plan have not been prioritised and the country has suffered damage that could have been avoided. Unemployment is at 29%, the education system is a mess, the health system has collapsed, state-owned enterprises have become a liability to this fiscus because of corruption, and we have exceptionally high inequality levels.
By official count, 6.7-million people are unemployed in South Africa. More than half of the youth live in poverty and most black women are poor even with an overwhelming increase in the number of them obtaining university degrees. Black South Africans are suffering despite the projection of success.
Yes, we are more educated than ever before, but that education has not taken place alongside an increase in wealth acquisition of any kind. When you look at black people who are “rich”, they constitute a small percentage of the general body of the population; this black bourgeois’ job is to take attention away from issues that affect black people and put it on “all lives matter”.
This also includes pulpit pimps who masquerade as pastors. I have a problem with the church. It appears its mandate is only to take, but never to give back.
Youth involvement threatens the imbalance of power that favours the adult, mostly male-dominated society, which promotes and perpetuates elitism, collusion, the exploitation of women and children, and the making of economic decisions. Over the next few weeks, the issue of the government not honouring its free education promise will resurface once again.
This is a pandemic that can be avoided, but poor planning and lack of political will continue to maintain the status quo. In my view, both the government and the youth are to blame for this crisis. The government is undeniably complacent about this matter and young people just lack the urgency to face the enemy of the day.
We have a ruinous public health system that has done more harm than good to the public over the past 26 years. The exorbitant cost of treatment for cancer in South Africa is way beyond the reach of most citizens, even with medical aid. Mental health does not even feature as a public health priority and, in rural communities, mental health is not supported at all.
The only plan the government seems to have is the National Health Insurance (NHI), which is a concept that will not be implemented any time soon. The posture of the health department gives an impression that once the NHI is implemented all of the country’s health problems will be resolved, which is a fallacy and a disturbing reality.
Mismanagement, incompetence, corruption and looting are at the core of the problems facing the country’s state-owned enterprises. Accountability has been blurred through a complex, unclear appointment process and, at times, undue political interference. Government bailouts have not helped the situation. Instead, they continue to put