Solutions lie beyond our comfort zones

THERE are some universal and unwritten rules by which we all, by and large, abide. One of these is that you never criticise your partner or your friends’ nearest and dearest, no matter how bad they may be. Or if you do, you do so only by invitation.

This week, someone broke that rule. They didn’t criticise my parents, though. They chose to criticise South Africa.

Now, I have sat through many sobering discussions with my fellow countrymen about the creaking economy and the parlous political state in which we find ourselves. These discussions are comfortable to engage in because I am talking to people as invested in the health of this country as I am.

But to hear an outsider say South Africa is on the brink of imploding immediately made me defensive. I quickly named other nations in positions as difficult, if not more so, than South Africa Inc. Admittedly, I was limited to citing countries in Latin America and certain parts of Asia.

The idea that we have moved past the “tipping point”, and that domestic factors, combined with foggy global economic prospects, have conspired to push us to a point of no return ran contrary to reason — in that moment anyway.

Especially since the criticism came from someone whose continent remains in a precarious economic position, with flat growth and a sovereign debt crisis hanging over it.

The unwritten rule had been broken.

But as my irritation cooled, and my arms tired of the flag waving, it dawned on me that I had reacted pretty much in the same manner as the loudest official mouthpieces of the Jacob Zuma administration when flags are raised about growth, which is seemingly set to follow an anaemic path for some years to come.

Any evidence of a struggling domestic economy, falling confidence levels in the private and public sectors, or rising unemployment as mechanisation and falling profit levels bite, is brushed off as an external factor.

Whoever sounds those alarms is classified a “clever” black, should they represent the majority of the country. The remainder are called other names, “counter-revolutionary” being a standard favourite.

Corporate South Africa doesn’t escape some of the blame. It has grown more dismissive of the state and whatever pressures it faces.

Those most heavily invested in this country’s future — none more so than those students calling for affordable education or workers facing an uncertain future — have become a nuisance to the state and corporate South Africa. The recent pension fund reforms seem to have ignored worker concerns, even if some are unfounded.

As stakeholders, we are left merely observing slowing growth rates. We are left peering at the pace of the increase in debt to GDP since 2008, which is ratcheting up at a worrying rate. From just more than 20% in 2008, it’s now at 41%.

The state, which is facing a growing social wage bill, is struggling to boost revenues without weakening the underlying economy through higher income tax as perhaps the most viable option.

Twenty years ago, the bill for education, health, social protection and housing sat at 43% of the R143-billion budget. Today, it’s about 55% of a R1.28-trillion purse.

With a workforce faced with continued job-shedding because of forces over which it has little control the bill is likely to grow.

We haven’t got much room left for inertia.

The bureaucrats, who adopt a less short-term outlook than politicians and those in the private sector, need to cooperate. And it must be an inclusive conversation. Maybe then our position can improve. derbyr@sundaytimes.co.za @ronderby