Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Inequality is public enemy number one
It poses the greatest danger to global stability
FORGET the whole Trump family and Brexit, even latenight cabinet reshuffles and Prexit – inequality, particularly in Africa, poses the greatest danger to global stability.
That was the central message in many of the sessions at the World Economic Forum’s Africa meetings, which wrapped up yesterday in Durban. The theme was “Achieving Inclusive Growth through Responsive and Responsible Leadership”, with the emphasis frequently falling on inclusivity.
Khanyisile Kweyama, chairperson of the Brand South Africa board of trustees said she agreed with the focus on inclusivity, saying the country had achieved growth before – lots of it, in fact – but that inclusive growth remained elusive.
She noted that in developing countries, in South Africa in particular, the economy had grown “to a great extent” in the past, but “it was to benefit only a few”.
“And look where we are now!” she said.
Kweyama, who is also chairperson of the SABC board, said South Africa had citizens who were extremely wealthy, so wealthy that “they can compete on a global platform, that get named in the top 10 in the world, but we have also got the poorest, poorest, poorest people”.
She warned that we had seen “on our own screens” what happens when people have had enough, “they don’t talk, they revolt”.
She mentioned the Arab Spring, referring to the wave of pro- democracy protests, riots, coups and civil wars in North Africa and the Middle East that began in late 2010.
“We don’t need more revolutions,” Kweyama said.
Many others at the WEF meetings this week were arguing that the world did not need more talk shops, which the forum’s annual gatherings at times stand accused of being.
Kweyama admitted that when she first started attending WEF meetings she was sensitive to criticism, mostly from outside the meetings, that it was too much of a talk-shop. But, she said, had “reconciled with the talk-shop bit”.
“Yes, it is a talk-shop but it is a talk-shop that is aimed towards solutions. To reach solutions you have to start by talking.”
She was also highly aware of the need to listen more, particularly to young people, another focus of the meetings.
“You see who is marching – whether it is for education, land, the economy – it is young people!
“If they don’t see a future for themselves then they just say: ‘So what… If it burns, it’s fine, let it burn because, after all, it was not going to benefit me’.”
On the tension between young people’s demands for change that was dramatic and fast, the business sector’s requirement for consistency, and the government’s need to talk, plan and regulate for change, Kweyama said: “I think we should listen more to the young people. We should accelerate a bit.”
She added that maintaining a heavy focus on youth – always a big theme at WEF meetings and particularly in Africa, the continent with a ballooning young population – was spot on.
“We need to keep our eyes on the ball!”
She believed WEF themes generally remained on target, although she worried a little that some problems remained on the agenda and “that we can’t quite tick them off as solved”.
She noted that food security was one of those themes that kept coming up.
“We have land, we have sun, we have rain. We should be able to feed ourselves.”
Another hot topic this week, and one that food security is frequently linked to, was inter- African trade. A complaint often heard at the meetings in Durban was that improved inter-African trade was always on the agenda and much discussed, but it ended up being just lip-service. – ANA