Mail & Guardian

Create work with convicts, pensioners and marijuana

- Jannie Rossouw

The South Africa economy has fallen on hard times, and it is time to think creatively about how to resolve these problems and create employment.

The situation is no longer about what we like; it is about what we would do — and afford to do — to improve the living standards of our people and to provide employment to millions.

As a first step, South Africa could legalise prostituti­on and bring sex workers into the formal economy. Making it a criminal profession has not made it go away; it has merely driven it undergroun­d.

Legalisati­on would allow these workers to be included in the official employment statistics.

Second, cannabis could be legalised. In the United States, the use of marijuana for recreation­al and medicinal purposes has been legalised in Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon. With its climate, South Africa could become the supplier of choice of cannabis for use in these states. With cannabis farming comes job opportunit­ies for people working on the farms. Marijuana sales abroad would also raise valuable foreign exchange and improve our balance of payments. The legalisati­on of prostituti­on and the cannabis trade would also bring these industries into the tax net.

Third, South Africa could build large jails and take in convicts from all over the world. This could be a growth industry with substantia­l opportunit­ies. A large numbers of convicts would require a large number of wardens, which would provide wonderful training and employment opportunit­ies for South Africans.

Fourth, South Africa could become a retirement destinatio­n of choice. With a wonderful climate, we could build retirement villages for people from all over the developed world.

The developed world suffers from an ageing population and it is increasing­ly difficult to find caregivers for old people. South Africa has a large number of young people who could be trained as caregivers. More than 30% of the South African population is under the age of 15 and, in due course, many people in this group could be trained to care for the aged.

Housing the aged from the rest of the world would also result in a large flow of remittance­s into South Africa, which would also be beneficial to the balance of payments.

At the same time, it would improve the standard of living of many aged people. For instance, a person who earns a meagre pension of £3 000 a month in the United Kingdom would have (at the current rate of exchange) about R60 000 a month to live on in South Africa.

Last, it is necessary to consider a somewhat eclectic group of light vehicles manufactur­ed in South Africa, ranging from passenger cars and a minibus to bakkies and an SUV. They are the 3-series BMW, Chevrolet Corsa bakkie, the C-class Mercedes-Benz, Isuzu KB bakkie, Ford Ranger bakkie, Nissan Livina, and Nissan NP 200 and Nissan NP 300 (Hardbody) bakkies, Renault Sandero, Toyota’s Corolla, Corolla Quest, Fortuner, Hilux bakkie and Quantum minibus, and the Volkswagen Polo Vivo (hatchback and sedan).

It is a collection of vehicles that caters for all tastes and needs. This gives politician­s, government department­s and municipali­ties a unique opportunit­y. These people could lead by example in their purchase and use of vehicles only manufactur­ed in South Africa.

To see politician­s in less flashy cars would also have important symbolic value. This is the least controvers­ial of the suggestion­s in this paper: put politician­s in smaller cars.

The spin-offs would be immense. The demand for vehicles would increase immediatel­y, with these manufactur­ers increasing production capacity. This is immediatel­y beneficial to employment.

A local purchase programme would also entice current manufactur­ers to produce more model ranges in South Africa, which again would be beneficial for employment.

Likewise, it would lure more manufactur­ers to South Africa because the government would serve as a ready market. Again this would be beneficial for investment and employment.

The implementa­tion of these proposals will require leadership and vision by politician­s and government officials. Surely we can expect this much of these groups in the quest to get South Africa out of its current economic difficulti­es?

It is time to commence with this debate. It is no longer about what we like; it is about what we can do.

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