February 10, 2012
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2012 State of the Nation address
State of the nation address
#Politics
I took the day of work yesterday because it was the state of the nation address of South Africa’s President, Mr J #Zuma. Roads into the city was blocked off and it simply was easier to stay at home and work on my PhD research.
I was quiet impressed by the President’s address. He highlighted the past achievements and set the direction going forward as a country. The feedback was well aligned with the objectives that he set in the previous two years. Indeed progress had been made in many areas like education and the fight against crime. Poverty however still seem to be a problem in South Africa. Like the previous year the focus of the government remains on job creation. The government aims to put in place various infrastructure development projects which they believe will create the job targets they set for themselves. The main opposition party says these goals might not be achievable since there is no funding mechanism provided for the projects. However for a developing country an investment in infrastructure is not a bad place to start. Infrastructure should ultimately lead to economic development. The focus is on building infrastructure to deliver basic services often take for granted in developed worlds like clean water, electricity and the road infrastructure. Although the president did mention that industrialisation must happen concurrently he failed to give any details. The infrastructure plans could be named by referencing clear instances targeted but it seems the investment in infrastructure is mainly focused on satisfying short term employment objectives rather than creating long term growth opportunities. Without proper planning an investment in infrastructure that yields short term benefit will be a destroying wealth rather than creating it. There will be a focus on increasing South Africa’s mineral export capacity. The concern with this is not the mining of the minerals but simply the export of minerals without adding value before exports. Again it seems that the focus is on the right things but it is with the wrong time frames. Nothing has been said in terms of stimulating the growth of small and medium enterprises. Infrastructure by itself does not bring wealth…it is how you use the infrastructure that will help South African’s to create wealth.
As a white #Afrikaner citizen of the country I was disappointed to hear that the government will intensify race based policies like Black Economic Empowerment through introducing legislation. I still maintain that a developing country can not afford to ignore all its human capital. Race based policies are aimed at correcting inequalities created in the past but it destroys wealth. The race based reform of land, is aimed at moving white owned land to be black owned. Contrary with my feelings on Black Economic Empowerment (#BEE) I do think there is a need for land reform. The majority of land is owned by a minority of people. Targets for change must be set and executed. However it seems that the government is instituting permanent race based measures of racial discrimination rather than just using it as a temporary tool for transformation. I am convinced the implementation of race based policies contributes to the poverty of the country. Afrikaners, specifically are enterprising and creative, and they are not given equal opportunities to contribute to the country’s growth. Given that less than 10% of the population is white, there is no reason to continue to discriminate against white people. I will maintain this view until racial policies had been abolished and the country can truly enter into a period of racial harmony and unity.
So overall I am impressed by what has been achieved, the clarity of goals and I think the government puts the emphasis in the right places. On the negative side my opinion is that the plans are not founded sufficiently on a long term plan for the country. Although I support the need for land reform in the country at the present moment I despise the emphasis on the Black Economic Empowerment policy, which is discriminating on the basis of race between people. These policies does not utilise all the countries human capital and it makes it more difficult for white South African’s to play a meaningful role in terms of the countries growth path.
Comments (4)
An interesting post.
From the viewpoint of an outsider , South Africa has many things going for it as well as some major obvious problems. Your nation is blessed with fairly abundant natural mineral wealth and, over most of the country, a desirable climate. It also has a fairly large educated community and much of its potential wealth has been developed and exploited – the conditions for further development and exploitation are all in place and your present government’s decisions to increase the infrastructure is undoubtedly a good one.
South Africa’s major problem is, of course, political. It will probably be at least another generation before the legacy of Apartheid ceases to be the primary driver of SA politics and unfortunately Afrikaners and other non-blacks will be the focus of much majority political effort that, as you say, could be better spent focusing on economic goals. The major point of optimism, as I see it, is the fact that so far, the democratically elected government has chosen to abide by your constitution and the fundimental legal system, which mostly treats all citizens equally. If the SA government falls into the hands of a group that decides to ignore legality, than SA’s rise to economic maturity, with all the attendant benefits, will surely suffer.
@tychecat - You are totally correct the powers of state is seperated between the Excecutive, the Parliament, and the Judiciary with the constitution being the highest source of power. The constitution is one of the best their is in many ways. The goverment of the day have respected the constitution but like any goverment tried to push its boundaries. The constitution however does provide minorities the opportunity to prevent goverment from eroding the constitution. If we can escape the obsession with race then the consitution will be even more fair because it carries within it the spirit of full equality for all. I do think the majority of South Africans just want a fair playing field where al can live to exceed their dreams and hopes.
good blog!
you got a mention in my valentines day post.
@DivaJyoti - Thank you, for the mention…I appologise for not responding – I had been off-line for some time. Sure it is one of those real fabulous entries.