Focus on the road ahead

People tend to concentrate on the negative, ignoring the huge progress we have made as a nation over the past four decades.

The voiceless youth of 1976 decided on protest action in a desperate effort to be heard — our own Arab Spring. Their sacrifices and the sacrifices of those before them have not been in vain. Democracy dawned in 1994, with political freedom and equality before the law guaranteed under our new Constitution.

There is no longer any limitation on anyone to reach the top in any field in SA. In fact, people from previously disadvantaged communities have indeed reached top positions across all spheres of society. Yes, we still have a long way to go to fully address historic socioeconomic divisions and backlogs as well as the widening poverty gap, although this is no longer defined only by colour. In fact, this widening poverty gap is a worldwide phenomenon — increasingly it is based more on class-means difference than a race difference.

Unfortunately, poor governance, state capture and corruption over the past few years has worsened the plight of the most vulnerable in our country. In countries with divisive histories such as SA’s, vulnerable and affected groups on all sides are often manipulated by opportunists and populists of all persuasions through fear and socioeconomic inequality.

This places a huge responsibility on political leaders, as well as on business leaders and civil society in general, to be sensitive to the plight of the vulnerable, especially during difficult economic times. My reading is that the moderate majority in SA are still positive about the future, especially since the rise of President Cyril Ramaphosa, and are willing to contribute to make our country a better place for all its inhabitants.

It is time that we concentrate on that which we have in common and turn our diversity into an asset instead of a divisive tool.

We must not squander the progress made and lessons learnt on the long road to freedom.

Dawie Jacobs

Sterrewag