Roadmap for a better SA 2015

Start fixing the broken bits, politicians urged

FOR many, including the government, 2014 has been a year filled with financial woes, mistrust and angst as the country stumbles from pothole to pothole, financial rating knocks, violent strikes, crumbling health facilities and a climbing crime rate.

We look at what needs to be done next year to turn this around and avert an even gloomier future.

ý POWER – The government would do well to stop looking for someone to blame for the power crisis and rather focus on looking for short-term and long-term solutions.

Nuclear may be a future answer but it is not going to provide a steady stream of power immediately.

Renewable energy and independent power production should be taken more seriously while basic maintenance of existing infrastructure is done more regularly.

ý ECONOMY – Economists have called for certainty to be re-estab- lished, especially around legislation.

This should focus on the development of business-friendly legislation aimed at reducing the cost of doing business in the country and for urgent steps to be taken to avoid protracted and violent strikes.

Political and economics analyst Daniel Silke said South Africa’s continuing strained relationships between the state, labour and the private sector, which had for years been deteriorating, was at the heart of its current economic woes.

Silke called for urgent clarity on economic policies to encourage private sector investment domestically and direct foreign investment, to create the millions of jobs which are desperately needed.

ý POLICING AND JUSTICE – Criminologists have called for steps to be taken to restore public confidence in the criminal justice system, which is at an all-time low, especially around perceptions that it is only the rich and famous who receive special task teams if they fall victim to crime.

Crime anthropologist Professor Theodore Petrous, from the Univer- sity of Fort Hare, said there was a huge negative public perception on how the “mighty“, such as President Jacob Zuma, escaped the law through selective investigations and prosecutions, with the government ignoring recommendations of the public protector and special investigation unit.

ý HEALTH – The government will have to up its game in terms of ensuring that everyone is treated equally when it comes to the provision of good quality healthcare at fair and equitable prices.

With the much-anticipated results of the Competition Commission’s inquiry into the private healthcare sector and allegations of price manipulation, health economist Marine Erasmus said the findings could see punitive steps being taken against private health companies.

Economists are also calling on Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi to keep good on his promises to improve public healthcare, especially in terms of the National Health Insurance plan and for frameworks to be established to stamp out corruption.