Level playing field to promote economy

MCKINSEY says South Africa could add 1.1 million jobs by 2030. Tito Mboweni adds a million. Both narrow-minded thinkers and thinking!

The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. But according to the National Development Plan, 11 million new jobs are required between 2010 and 2030; and Jacob Zuma helped South Africa to lose 5 million jobs during his reign, so 16 million jobs are required between now and 2030.

Instead of waiting for outside consultants to tell us what to do, let us build ourselves up, as Africans, of any colour, race, religion, as long as we are Africans first and last.

And the fundamental problem? (South) Africa is massively short of electricity, having just enough to extract minerals and cereals and staples and send them to the rest of the world for processing.

Until people realise this, Africa will continue to languish as a backwater waiting for handouts. And the starting point to fix this? Level the playing fields. Everyone should have the same access to resources. Everyone should get the same business benefits. Barriers to entry should be eliminated. And yet, “my” suggestions aren’t new. They are contained in South African policy documents, going back as far as 1998 and 2003! In business terms, policy is strategy. So why hasn’t the ANC’s strategy (policy) been implemented?

Because the processes required to implement them have been undermined by South Africa’s laws, which are designed to protect monopolies and monopsonies, at the expense of the citizen.