CGF ARTICLES, OPINIONS & EDITORIALS

A Growth Path to be travelled where there is convergence . (2011-08-29)

February 19, 2015  3622  3622   

For some, the ‘show’ may now be over as the country’s citizens continue their lives, many of whom are unemployed with very little hope of ever finding ‘decent’* work that will sustain them and their families through their own lifetime.  Since our dawn of democracy -- which promised the larger segments of South Africans a better social and economic life -- the gap between the rich and the poor has indeed become wider and a large majority of citizens still remain excluded from the mainstream economy.  And while a few elite, as well as businesses in general have benefitted from various government related programmes and policies, the reality of our socio and economic situation belies the fact that -- according to the OECD -- “South Africa’s income distribution is amongst the worst in the world”.  Indeed this dire situation is damning, and certainly a major reason why South Africa needs to urgently address the disparities between the ‘first’ and ‘second’ economies**, which are not closing fast enough.  Undoubtedly, this situation has fuelled the country’s high levels of unrest, crime, unemployment and poverty.

At first, one is inclined to simply point a finger in the direction of government and lay blame on their lack of leadership, lack of governance, lack of policies and so forth.  However, one must be cautious of the ‘blame game’ and accept, given South Africa’s young democracy and our past one-sided socio-economic policies (which favoured the white population), that much help and partnership is required by government to rectify the county’s woes.  Given the length of time to undo the extensive damage in our previous regime, one certainly needs to ask the pressing question as to the extent in which the nation (as a whole) has truly stood together to build a prosperous society and where there is trust amongst government and its constituencies?  No doubt, many will claim their allegiance to this change and their support of the government’s numerous attempts to remedy the facts cited by the OECD about South Africa’s worsening social-economic problems.  Leaving this situation without a proper, and urgent sustainable rectification, our country will most certainly attract an unwanted world center stage, which may not be too different from that of Libya, Serbia, Zimbabwe and others who had similar patterns to those now in our own back yard.

In reality, might it be possible that many corporates, business leaders and social elites have purposefully stood back, watching the ANC-led government repeatedly blunder in its efforts to rectify decades worth of damage, as they quietly reap yet more rewards through this disarray?  Critics argue that government has taken too hard a line in its attempt to reverse the employment policies of the past, evidenced in what has now become clear that broad based black economic empowerment policies have failed, and only benefited a few.   Similarly, national initiatives such the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (ASGISA was an outgrowth of GEAR) and the Industrial Policy Action Plans (IPAP 1 & 2) may be categorised as government’s noble initiatives, however they too may be doomed if there is no genuine partnership between government, businesses and civil society.

More recently, yet another initiative has been launched -- the New Growth Path (NGP) -- which has a number of elements similar to those found in ASGISA.  Again, this initiative has hardly begun and it has already drawn sharp criticism from businesses who believe they have not been adequately consulted by government.  Indeed, if this sentiment is correct, it would suggest that the NGP may suffer the same ill effects of its predecessor initiatives and not have the desired effect to narrow the many extremes that plague our country, notwithstanding that the NGP speaks of acquiring the creative and collective efforts of all sections of South African society, underpinned by “leadership and strong” governance.   In addition to businesses feeling alienated through the lack of consultation, there is also a general consensus that the government has unrealistic expectations of itself, believing it alone has the capacity to administer large scale structural changes in the economy.  This argument is further bolstered by the poor results found within our public schooling and skills development sectors, failing public service delivery, not least other areas of concern.

* The Decent Work Agenda is defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO)

** The concept of the ‘second economy’ is used to describe economic marginalization in South Africa, and the poverty and social alienation that characterise it.