Mbeki calls for coalition of leaders
WHY would Jacob Zuma need to worry about creating employment and finding jobs for South Africans, when 64% of those who vote for the ANC are unemployed?
Conversely, 47% of DA voters work full time. So the theory, according to the ANC, could be: “If we find jobs for the 64% of our voters who don’t work, they will then go and join the DA.”
Political and economics commentator Moeletsi Mbeki last week addressed members of the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business and the SA Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), on “What is wrong with South Africa Today?”
Mbeki has recently launched his latest book, A Manifesto for Social Change: How to Save SA.
Mbeki said there was a lot wrong with this country, but there was also a lot that was right.
“The unemployment figures are a huge problem. Malaysia, for example, is also a former colony. But while unemployment there hovers around 3.5%, we are at 35%. And any country that focuses on raw material exports – like SA – is going nowhere. That’s a fact.”
Mbeki said heavy taxation, corruption, economic mismanagement, very low levels of investment (particularly when compared with Asian countries), and crime (32 000 murders per 100 000 people a year, compared with the global average of 6 per 100 000), among other factors were dragging South Africa down.
Commenting on the standard of education, Mbeki said there was no motivation for the government to resolve what he described as a crisis.
“Compare us with China: at any one time, there are 400 000 Chinese students in the US. At any one time, a million Chinese students are studying in other countries outside their own. Why? Because they are motivated to develop industry in their country.”
South Africa, he said, required a new coalition to confront state power, to deepen societal development and to include those who stood to benefit from industrialisation.
Mbeki said it was his belief that the ANC’s time in power was limited and it was only a coalition of leaders from all sectors of society who could map a way forward for the country.