SA government should do as Afrikaners did

Our people need support to pull us out of the current mire, writes Thami Zwane.

This is what poverty means to a family: there is no peace in the house. Children are crying and fighting among themselves over food, clothes and play things.

The mother and the father constantly argue over minor issues.

Surely the day that the fortunes of the head of the family change, he will know exactly what to do for his wife and children.

There won’t be a reason to institute a needs analysis for the household. The same applies to a Third World or developing country.

The Afrikaners knew what to do after they took over from the

English.

They established higher learning institutions such as Rand Afrikaans University, Stellenbosch University, Pretoria University, Potchefstroom University and the University of the Orange Free State.

They started state companies such as Iscor, Eskom and the South African rail and harbour systems in order to improve the quality of life as well as provide skills and training for Afrikaans people.

Decent RDP houses were built for their people.

This brings me to the wasteful commission of inquiry into the taxi industry instituted by Gauteng Premier David Makhura.

Nothing new will come out of it. We all know what’s wrong with taxis – wars about lucrative routes, a saturated industry, over indebtedness due to high installment payments, no government subsidy and an unprofessional industry, among others.

The solution: government should help and support like the Afrikaans government did.

Subsidise and professionalise the industry that is so vital in that it transports about two-third of the country’s daily commuters.

This is not a provincial problem but a national crisis.

Finally, commission the university research and development unit to design our own Ses’fikile minibus which is suitable for South African conditions in order to cut costs for taxi operators and owners.

This newly-built Ses’fikile could be sold to other African countries.