In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Thursday, the President called on South Africans to build a "social consensus," a shared understanding of what is required to address our current crisis and build a strong foundation for the future.
If we can achieve consensus on one core issue, the rest, I predict, will follow.
Most of us already agree on one thing: our biggest crisis is mass unemployment of over 40% on the expanded definition (which includes people who have given up looking for work).
I also think most South Africans would agree that the single greatest social benefit for the country would be a significantly reduced unemployment rate -- ie millions more people in jobs.
Therefore we need to build a national consensus to answer one key question: How are sustainable jobs created at the scale required?
It was very telling that the sentence in the SONA that attracted both the loudest heckling and greatest applause was this: "We all know that government does not create jobs. Business creates jobs".
Sadly, we do not all know this. It is the answer to this question that polarises our society, perhaps more than any other, and divides the ANC down the middle.
Those who heckled the President were those who believe that the ruling Party should control the State and that the State should control the Economy.
What they mean by this is that the State should confiscate the wealth of the few, and transfer it to the many -- although how this will result in sustainable growth is never mentioned.
It was bold of the President to nail his colours to the mast on the role of the State, in a year where he has to face re-election.
"There should be a new consensus which recognises that the state must create an environment in which the private sector can invest and unleash the dynamism of the economy," he said.
Basically this means that a capable state must do its job properly: it must ensure that "things work" -- access to clean water, reliable electricity, functional transport infrastructure, refuse removal, good public schooling and health systems, etc.
The capable state that does its job properly creates a sense of confidence in the future.
This confidence spurs investment.
Investment creates growth and jobs.
This grows the tax base to enable a capable state to do its job better and provide a safety net for those unable to earn a living themselves.
And so a virtuous cycle takes root.
The biggest job-killer is the incapable, corrupt state, unable to deliver on its mandate.
This destroys confidence in the future, drives away investment, and results in the unemployment catastrophe we face today.
It was my privilege, for a while, to occupy key roles in government (Mayor of Cape Town and Premier of the Western Cape) where I could work towards building a capable and corruption-free state.
Others have now picked up the baton, and are continuing this role with excellent results.
There are parts of South Africa, governed by the DA, which have largely reached the crucial "social consensus" of which the President speaks.
So, I repeat what I said before, at the height of "Ramaphoria" in 2019: if you want the President's vision to succeed, the best option is to support the DA.
Unlike the President, we are unfettered in our pursuit of the virtuous cycle for South Africa.
He is too bogged down in the internal war between competing factions in the ANC -- with many of his colleagues actively opposing his objectives.
He knows, like most of the rest of us, that the ANC will fall below 50% in the next election.
Then South Africa will either be governed by an alliance between the ANC's RET forces and the EFF. Or it will be governed by a new and growing majority in the rational centre of politics, in which the DA will play a key role. The stronger we are when this moment dawns, the greater the role we can play in saving South Africa, and putting the whole country on the path of the "virtuous cycle" which has already started, where the DA governs.
Source: www.facebook/helenzille
