South Africa, Failing State? or, Failing Nation?
Falling off a cliff’
So where to from here?
‘Falling off a cliff’ was a sobering headline in 2020 (Sunday Times, August 16, 2020). Primarily about South Africa’s Covid-19 lockdown devastated economy, it applies in equal measure to the dawn of 2021 where celebratory fireworks were replaced by somber funeral prayers as the second wave of the coronavirus cut through South Africa’s population, overwhelming health facilities and families alike. This, with economic ‘junk’ status, senior ANC leaders on corruption charges, leaked matric exam papers and the flailing economy, poses the critical questions: are we a failing state? or, a failing nation?
South Africa’s socio-economic decline is no surprise. Dysfunctional municipalities; SOE’s; did not happen overnight. The late Auditor-General, Kimi Makwetu’s municipal audit report 2018-2019, ‘Not much to go around, yet not the right hands at the till’ released in 2020, underscored the incompetence, cronyism and political malfeasance that has been eroding the body politic over many years.
Tragically, South Africa’s decline was self-engineered! The impact of Covid-19 and the economic lockdown is devastating, but the more potent ‘viruses’ are the ethical failings and breakdown of general law and order in society. The Zondo Commission provides clear evidence of how poor leadership, greed and socially destructive behaviour resulted in many of the miscreants not realising the disastrous outcomes of their actions. Hence our country’s sustainability is risk. A report by risk assessment agency, Eunomix Business and Economics Ltd (10 September 2020, in BusinessTech) gives South Africa until 2030 to face significant economic decline and ultimately rank the same as Bangladesh!
So where to from here? A starting point is to critically reflect on the treacherous behaviours normative in our society – corruption; economic exploitation; gender based violence; environmental degradation.
Hence we must urgently reset – economically, socially, spiritually and politically. With so many commissions of inquiries putting strain on the fiscus, prosecutorial processes must act so that transgressors are held to account. This will not only ensure justice, but also assure investors that the rule of law prevails.
However, despite our significant challenges, we cannot afford to lose hope. Pharma companies have produced potentially life saving vaccines and vaccination has started in various countries with South Africa also in line. However, parallel to our preservation of life should be our pursuit of adding value to life! In this vein, Covid-19 has been an enabler. It catalysed new ways of collaborating between public and private sectors, reshaped our perspectives on the value of life and sparked innovative ways in online working and commerce.
There are immediate steps that must be prioritised to ensure quality of life. Top of the list is job creation. Unacceptably high unemployment points to a structural misalignment between education and the world of work. Besides necessary assessment of curricula, the recently established University Technology Fund (UTF) is a welcome development to provide venture capital to convert intellectual skills to start-up businesses. This should be supported by entrepreneurial skills development in all academic disciplines.
Building a capable state requires thinking unconstrained by political ideology, but thinking that is underpinned by ethics, innovation and decisiveness. Pursuing this is not an ANC, DA or EFF matter. All citizens, irrespective of political affiliation, race or class, can in our own way make a difference. As the Mahatma Gandhi once remarked, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought the world to its knees, but the cure is more than a vaccine. It’s also about assessing our lifestyles and how we live in relation to each other and to the planet. Humans are adaptable, intelligent and resilient, but what we often lack is the collective will to collaborate conscientiously and ethically.
Tackling our problems depend on innovative and scalable solutions. Rebuilding South Africa’s economic capacity requires RET, not the Bell Pottinger kind, but rather, Radical Empathy Transformation and Radical Efficiency Transformation. These could start with a number of measures which should include a more caring government with more efficient service delivery throughout all organs of state. It’s also imperative to heed the words of New York Times columnist, Thomas L. Friedman, ‘Today, average is officially over.’ In a world of increasing competition, ‘excellence’ will be a game changer.
With the health and economic impact of Covid-19 many of us and businesses might not survive unless we radically change how we live our lives. The pandemic is a portal to a new world. How we thrive in this new world depends on our individual actions and responsiveness to rapidly evolving trends.