All we’ve heard is promises

FOR one person, all the talk of economics, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and ratings at the World Economic Forum Africa meant nothing.

“People are always talking about economics and development, but to me, it doesn’t mean much,” said Musawenkhosi Nzuza, 37, from Umlazi.

Confined to a wheelchair, Nzuza said development, such as tarred roads and skills centres for the unemployed, had been promised for years, but nothing had materialised.

He wheeled himself to the area known as Speaker’s Corner, near the ICC, part of the People’s Economic Forum.

The forum, made up of civil society, community groups and individuals, has called for “people over profits”.

“These leaders and experts only talk. They are worried about profits and they don’t care about people and the environment. I am here to show that I am not happy with how things are done,” said Nzuza.

He said several years ago, political leaders promised that a skills centre would be created in his ward, to teach people skills such as basket weaving and carpentry.

“There is a lot of unemployment and people can’t afford to study, so a skills centre would help the young people earn money and feed their families. All we heard is promises, but nothing ever happens,” he said.