GOOD statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD: Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
09 February 2022
Political analysts, parties and commentators have been weighing in, as they annually do, about what President Cyril Ramaphosa should prioritise in his State of the Nation address.
Each has a long list of suggestions. Each year, their cacophony of advice evolves as new crises in the management of the nation emerge to sit atop the shoulders of older crises that have never been solved.
Unemployment, economic stagnation, sub-par education and health systems, factionalised politicians and bureaucrats, failing intelligence and policing services, inept management of state programmes, corruption, slow-moving prosecutions, judicial disarray, misogyny and gender-based violence, lack of immigration control and xenophobia, poverty, homelessness, landlessness, radical inequality… Take your pick…
Rather than engaging in more discussions, commissions and investigations, and tinkering around the edges, what South Africans need right now is firm commitment to three critical values.
- Accountability, not impunity
Impunity practised in the corridors of powers trickles down to contaminate communities. When there is no fear of the consequences of committing crime it becomes a runaway train.
Germany still prosecutes former Nazis, as do many other former repressive states. But in South Africa, the State decided not to prosecute some of the most violent and bloodthirsty apartheid villains despite being advised by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to do so. Since then, the States prosecutorial decisions have been tainted by political consideration. Now we expect the NPA to act on Judge Zondo’s findings…
The recent conduct of some JSC commissioners who participated in the public interviews of four senior jurists vying for the position of Chief Justice exposes how the politicisation of our justice system is increasing.
This must be arrested and the President must lead the way.
The National Prosecuting Authority must be capacitated, with additional financial and human resources, in order to prosecute at a scale required to assure South Africans that there is no appearance of impunity for some.
The independence of our National Prosecuting Authority, free from political interference or the perception of political interference, means it is time to consider whether the National Prosecuting Authority should not be protected by Chapter 9 of our Constitution.
Chapter 9 Institutions are independent, and subject only to the Constitution and the law.
- Action, not more action plans
Nowhere is South Africa’s state of brokenness more apparent than in the supply of electricity. For fifteen years we’ve been experiencing debilitating blackouts. The Zuma administration blamed it on the Mbeki administration, and now it is blamed on State Capture.
For how many years will we speak about a just transition from coal to cleaner systems of energy production before we actually start re-skilling coal workers so they don’t end up adding to the unemployment queue?
Fixing our energy crisis is non-negotiable if we are to achieve economic growth. It presents opportunities for new skills and new jobs to be created in a society desperate for jobs and with capable young people ready to take up the work.
If South Africa lacks the management capacity to fix energy generation and distribution, rather than continuing to demonstrate its incapacity the country must put its pride in its pocket and hire the expertise abroad.
We can’t continue kicking for touch. We are running out of time. If we fix electricity supply we have a chance of fixing the economy and creating jobs.
- Economic transformation, not deepening inequality
The government claims to be executing a transformative agenda to right the socio-economic, environmental and spatial imbalances of apartheid.
But the transformation we have seen is increasing the marginalization of the most vulnerable people, increasing unemployment, increasing poverty and deepening inequality.
The country cannot live precariously on the edge – balancing survival against the forces of collapse. It is not sustainable. Last July in KZN and Gauteng we witnessed the precariousness of our unequal and divided society.
Our people need and want to work. Government must reject the weak projections of 1% economic growth this year and next. We need our economy to grow by at least 3% if we are to start to turn the tide.
Our objective must be job-creating economic growth. The industries that create jobs, and which are a force multiplier of job creation, are agriculture, energy, the services sector, tourism, manufacturing and construction.
Our country must be a construction site. We have massive infrastructure backlogs with communities that were neglected under apartheid governments continuing to be left behind, saddled with inadequate, sub-standard or non-existent basic infrastructure and amenities. We must ramp up our infrastructure investment programme. This will stimulate the job-creating construction sector and address poor living conditions.
Self-employment and entrepreneurialism needs proper State support. According to a World Bank analysis if South Africa were to match the self-employment rate of our peers (like Turkey, Brazil and Mexico) we could potentially halve unemployment.
Support for small businesses and entrepreneurs needs a massive overhaul. With the lack of access to finance or capital being the greatest barrier for any entrepreneur.
Meanwhile, no adult human being can live without any income.
Section 27 of our constitution creates the right to social security for people unable to support themselves. The feasibility of a Basic Income Guarantee has been studied and studied, over and over again. We must put the question of whether we can afford to implement it to bed. We can and we must. We have a legal and moral obligation to do so.
Media enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD: Secretary-General
Cell: 0825183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Samkelo Mgobozi, GOOD: Media Manager
Cell: 0792315977 (whatsapp)/ 0829684021 (calls)
Email: samm@forgood.org.za