Real, local fixes for SA

NECESSITY: IMPROVE CITIZENS’ LIVES

State intervention can work against the poor, as in SAA bailout.

“Radical economic transformation” is the mantra South Africans will hear repeatedly as the political climate heats up and contestation for power in 2016 elections escalates.

All parties propagating the slogan say drastic action is necessary as poverty levels and unemployment are too high, too few have a stake in the economy and inequality is dangerous.

Walk or talk? But the real question we should ask is whether a politician’s agenda is an ideological one or if getting results is the real determinant. Is it more important to conform to the ideas of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin or Fidel Castro or those of the free-market fundamentalists – than to improve citizens’ lives?

I believe those who shout loudest about radical reform – the EFF – are least likely to go beyond rhetoric and symbolism. Their proposed nationalisation of industry and land defies other countries’ experiences, presumes SA is immune to global influences and ignores the state’s record of weak administration.

If there is going to be radical transformation in the near future it will be devised in Luthuli House. So far it has only one radical-transformation recipe: drastically increase state intervention in, and control over, the economy.

But citizens should point out where state intervention works against the poor. A good example is SAA. Taxpayers have bailed it out with guarantees worth R11.5 billion since 2012. The Free Market Foundation’s Leon Louw is correct to say bailouts divert billions from the poor (who do not fly) to the rich (who do).

Full ownership of millions of township houses should be transferred from councils to the occupants and small farmers on traditional land should be given full title deeds. That is proper empowerment. The shortest route to radical economic transformation is a massive new focus on education and training. This is the key to job creation, entrepreneurship and restoring dignity.