Why your world needs you
Stef Coetzee
During the past two decades South Africa has made one of the most remarkable political transformations in world history. We have progressed from a country isolated due to the apartheid policy, to a “rainbow nation” that symbolises new hope for countries in transition. Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk were both honoured for this with the Nobel Peace Prize. Since then South Africa is “managing” a silent revolution towards a more inclusive political, economic and social order and we have warded off an open revolution and a possible blood bath. At the same time, however, different sides of the political spectrum had high expectations for the new South Africa – expectations that couldn’t all be realised.
South Africa’s challenges in the above mentioned areas make you think of the standing phrase: “It is the best of times; it is the worst of times”.1 In certain respects the country has made excellent progress on political, economic and social levels and is held up as an example for other developing countries in transition phases. In other respects we haven’t done so well as the challenges for the future are so much bigger.
Before the future challenges in the different areas can be discussed, it is important to state two further points of view. Firstly South Africa is part of a fast-changing and globalising world and the country cannot escape these challenges and opportunities. Secondly South Africa is also part of the African continent and therefore inseparably integrated with the continent and its problems and challenges.
South Africa and a globalised world
The past two decades have produced some of the most far-reaching changes in world history. On political, economic, social, technological and environmental levels some spectacular changes have taken place.
A synoptic view of the changes shows that democracy quickly spread across the world, but received mixed results. Not all countries fared so well in establishing a democratic culture. The expansion of the market economy also didn’t go equally well in all countries and parts of the world. And the “Tigers of the East” fared better than the East Block countries.2 Despite the fact that the South Eastern Asiatic countries made a lot of progress with poverty relief, the gap between the rich and the poor world level is bigger than ever. It holds in a huge threat for world peace.
The “war on terror” and that which preceded it, also created the danger of division along religious “fractional lines”. It makes the world potentially more dangerous than before. Increasing environmental damage have suddenly become a bigger reality and set some of the biggest challenges in the coming decades.
The new economy with its new game rules has created an exciting but more uncertain world with fast trade traffic via the internet. Markets are more unstable and unpredictable and leave countries and enterprises in a more fragile state.
South Africa is therefore part of a fast globalising world. Due to the development of information communication technology countries across the world have more direct contact than ever before and the world economy have become a lot more integrated. Events elsewhere in the world therefore have a more direct effect on South Africa, as we have experienced in recent years. Economic policy-making no longer takes place in isolation from the main stream and countries are keenly watched by the institutions responsible for identifying countries’ credit judging and order. The development of a country like South Africa is no longer just domestic, but is dependent on, and sometimes at the mercy of international politics and economic powers.
The biggest challenge for countries like South Africa is to position themselves within the above as well as other world changes. South Africa is currently in the process of restructuring the economy in order to adapt to these challenges on international level. The biggest challenge is to use the benefits of globalisation, but also to manage development on national and local level (in other words in townships and towns) in order to create sustainable life possibilities for people at the bottom of the income pyramid. The latter approach is internationally referred to as the base of pyramid approach (BoP).
The BoP approach is chiefly concerned with the developing of business opportunities in poor communities, to the benefit of both the big and small enterprises, and the creation of sustainable enterprises in poor communities. Together value is created by the development of low-cost quality products for poor communities (lower profit margins and higher sales volumes). Linked to this, work aimed at development is often undertaken in these communities.
South Africa and Africa
South Africa has the strongest economy on the African continent and is classified as a middle income developing country. South Africa therefore plays an important role as economic power on the continent and the South African business sector has already attained the role as biggest investor on the continent.
With the founding of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) South Africa, via the prominent role of former president Thabo Mbeki, has played an important role in piloting a new initiative to position the continent within the new political and economic world order. Through it African countries admitted their past mistakes, but also admitted that globalisation is a reality. Despite criticism NEPAD has provided a new framework for sustainable development for the continent. The African peer review mechanism – by which African countries are measured according to certain criteria within the framework of the NEPAD goals of healthy democratic principles, government management, economic management (especially fiscal and monetary management) and social development – gave the first important step in the direction of acceptance of “healthy” African development by African leaders. Even South Africa received criticism based on the review.
South Africa also played an important role in the Blair commission on Africa’s development, and especially with regard to the issue of aid and the writing off of the debt of the poorest African countries with the most debt (the “highly indebted countries”).
With regard to the promotion of peace on the continent, which is a core condition for sustainable development, South Africa also plays an important role. Former president Mbeki in particular, but also his cabinet members played an important role in bringing about peace in the Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while South African troops are deployed in several African countries.
But South Africa’s role in Africa is also controversial. While the management, administrative, economic, military and other capacities that South Africa has is seen as a great asset to the continent, on the other hand South Africa is also seen as a threat to Africa’s development; especially due to the country’s economic power (South Africa produces close to 40% of the gross geographic product of Sub-Sahara Africa).3 This dominance is especially embodied practically in the increase of business investments in the rest of Africa and the expansion of South African business interests to the rest of the continent.
Due to this expansion of business interests to the rest of the continent, owners of small enterprises in Africa have legitimate fears that South African enterprises will oust them. It could even be seen as a second form of colonialism if South African enterprises sent back the profits to South Africa while the host country benefits little from the provision of local expertise, labour and products. That is why the South African government has created a manifest on business conduct to give Africa the benefit of South African products, services and capacities and to prevent the continent from being “exploited“.
Despite South Africa’s economic power on the continent the South African economy is still relatively small in comparison to the biggest powers, like the so-called G8 groups of countries.4 Moreover the South African economy is characterised with characteristics of developed as well as developing countries. The modern sector of the economy, especially found in cities, is strong and vital, while the less developed parts of the economy, found in the rural areas and on the peripheries of the cities, are underdeveloped and poor. The relatively small, but viable and dynamic developed sector is surrounded by a sea of poverty and unemployment. That is one of the most noticeable aspects of the “new” South Africa: that despite the longest period of economic growth (1999-2007) in the post-war period, the country still cannot wipe out poverty and unemployment. An economic dispensation where more people can share in the benefits of economic growth and development is one of the biggest future challenges for the leadership of South Africa.
Where should South Africa go from here?
When we refer to the obligation toward the community, the country and the continent, we are in fact referring to the development of the country. For economists the term development has taken on many dimensions over time. In the past development was measured by the increase in a country’s economic growth rate (in terms of growth of the gross national product of GNP); the increase in the income per capita; the meeting of people’s basic needs, like food, job opportunities, clothing, housing and others; and human development as measured against the so-called Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme or UNDP. The latter is a combined index of life expectancy at birth, education level and gross domestic product. With this and other measuring instruments a lot of progress was made in measuring development in a more comprehensive, holistic way.
The well-known development economist Amartya Sen argues in his book Development as freedom that development should be seen as the expansion of people’s freedom5. For Sen it is important to focus on the final purpose of development, namely freedom instead of the means to the end, for example growth in GNP or income per capita. Although the latter is very important in itself, it’s not a sufficient condition for development. Development as freedom presupposes that the cause of the lack of freedom must be removed. The latter includes poverty, tyranny, poor economic opportunities, social deprivation, a lack of public facilities and intolerance or the over-activity of an oppressing government.
According to Sen the absence of freedom is directly related to the occurrence of poverty, inadequate nutrition, medication to fight diseases, opportunities to obtain clothing or having clean drinking water and sanitation. These basic needs to a large extent determine the basis without which meaningful development will struggle to take place.
Sen distinguishes between five types of freedom: political freedom, economic facilities, social opportunities, transparency guarantees and protective security. These freedoms complement and strengthen each other. From this we can deduce that development of a community, country and continent is multi-faceted and complex and that there aren’t simple recipes to bring about development. As you will later see, it creates big challenges for leaders in all domains.
Measured against the above norms one can say that the current generation of young people will not be without challenges and opportunities in the South African and African context. We have an opportunity in South Africa to make new history. That is unlike the developed world where authors claim the end of history is in sight!
How are we doing and what are the challenges?
For the purpose of this discussion we will focus on four key elements of development, namely the progress of political democracy, economic development, the social order and the standing of the condition of the natural environment.
The progress of political democracy
As mentioned in the introduction South Africa has made remarkable progress with regard to political democracy since the process started in 1990. Since 1994 there is relative peace in South Africa and it looks as if the governing party wants to maintain it.
South Africa has accepted a liberal constitution which provides for a constitutional court and a human rights culture. This constitution has received worldwide praise and the constitutional court has already proved itself as a guardian of the constitution. Minority groups are not oppressed and are consulted by the authorities on a regular basis, although there are signs of excessive concentration of power in the hands of the ruling ANC alliance. Although from time to time there is discontent among the trade unions about rendering of service on the local level, as we experienced in 2007, large scale political unrest hadn’t really cropped up.
With regard to transparency, one of Sen’s requirements for freedom, the country has progressed well in comparison with the previous political dispensation. However, there are still islands of in-transparency. The actions, or lack of action, of parliament against members of parliament who have infringed regulations, are one of the more controversial aspects of the new dispensation.
Another sensitive barometer for political democracy is the obliteration of racism and the promotion of reconciliation. With the removal of apartheid, South Africa has in general, and at least legally, moved away from racial discrimination. The application, however, does show certain deficiencies. The fact that the population is still classified in terms of black, white, Coloured and Indian, is not conducive to the abolishment of racial discrimination. Paradoxically the promotion of broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) and employment equity (EE) has created the potential for new forms of discrimination based on race. BBBEE has so far also not really succeeded in truly creating broad-based empowerment, and the widespread charge against it is that only a small group of people are (continuously) benefited by it. Employment equity has proven not to be equitable to black people and among others has led to an exodus of expertise from the country.
Reconciliation in South Africa has made good progress under Nelson Mandela (more formally) and Desmond Tutu (civil society, more informally). Especially Tutu’s concept of a rainbow nation was met with general approval and has laid the table for a process of reconciliation. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was the next important step in bringing transgressions of the past to the light and bringing about reconciliation. Due to several reasons, which fall outside the framework of this discussion, the TRC hadn’t completely succeeded in bringing about true reconciliation. Like somebody once said: We have just pasted Band Aids on the wounds of the past. Reconciliation for the sake of peace, development and progress must still remain high on the agenda.
From the above discussion you can conclude that the establishment of democracy in South Africa has gone relatively well, but that democracy can still be further deepened and expanded. On the one hand it means that we must still learn more about the functioning of a full-fledged democracy and must learn more tolerance for a variety of view points and criticism. On the other hand it means that the authorities must reach out a lot more to the minority groups in the civil society in order to make them feel like a culturally safe part of the new South Africa. The big emphasis in the future will fall on service and participation in and leadership from the civil society in local development if South Africans want to narrow the gap between rich and poor and between racial groups.
Economic development
The new government in South Africa surprised everyone by putting forth a relatively conservative liberal economic policy after 1994. By attaining a surplus on the national budget by 2007 as well as better management of inflation (in other words, stricter control over fiscal and monetary policy) and an increase in competitiveness, the government and the Reserve Bank (the central bank of South Africa) have created an environment for a higher economic growth rate in the long term. While South Africa experienced a long term decrease over a period of twenty years, the growth rate has increased after 1994 and the prospects are that in the future it will grow constantly at 5% or more. If South Africa wants to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), namely halving unemployment by 2014, the economy will have to show positive growth of 6% and more per annum – a goal that won’t be easily attainable at the current savings rate, the level of foreign fixed investments, the shortage on the current account of the balance of payment and the shortage of trained people.6
Since 1994 the government has piloted several initiatives to promote development. That includes the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), Gear (Growth Employment and Redistribution Programme), Asgisa (Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa), and more recently the developmental state. During the past two years the government has also launched public works and infrastructure development programmes to encourage job creation in the historically disadvantaged areas. In addition to that there are also spatial development programmes, local economic development plans (LED) and integrated local development plans that have been launched. Big assignments from the central budget have also been channelled to the poorer parts of the population in an attempt to fight poverty.
The economic restructuring that has taken place since 1994, moving away from mining as one of the most important contributors to the economy and the restructuring of South Africa’s industrial sector – even with criticism – has created an important platform for future competition and economic growth. The increase in the importance of the services and tourism sectors has followed the pattern of world tendencies in this regard.
However, the biggest deficiency of the economic development in the period after apartheid is that the increase in the economic growth rate, especially since 1994, couldn’t drastically change deep structural poverty and unemployment. Although evidence of lower unemployment and poverty has come to the fore, the unemployment level is still unacceptably high and poverty is also alarmingly high. The division of assets between rich and poor still benefits the white owners’ class and the relatively small, but growing, black economic elite. It doesn’t create a basis for sustainable economic, social and environmental development on the long term.
Environmental sustainability
South Africa’s third great challenge is environmental sustainability through a sustainable ecological basis for the development of the country. The Strategic Framework for Sustainable Development drafted by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism comes to the conclusion that South Africa’s natural resource basis is under pressure and that ecosystems are facing degradation.10 Policies of the past (under the previous government) were based on South Africa’s dependence on mineable resources like coal, cheap electricity from coal and/or ineffective use of old capital stock in this regard. These and other policies have led to the degrading of soil, water pollution, the loss of biodiversity and the ineffective use of resources, which often affected the poor the most. The poor are dependent on natural resources and ecosystem services like productive sea areas, with enough fish to secure their survival. According to the DEAT report the poor pay in terms of air pollution, expensive water and the long distances they have to travel between their workplaces and shopping places.
The conclusion can be made that the borders have been reached. The strategy to create sustainable environmental development focuses on sustained economic growth of 6% through infrastructure creation, the development of human capacity, and social development. Socio-economic development can however not be accomplished if the degrading and obliteration of ecosystems and resources continue.
Become involved!
What do the above challenges and opportunities mean for us as South Africans? Firstly probably the most important is that it leaves the younger generation with a future full of opportunities! The opportunities may be different from in the past, but it will definitely be exciting. In contrast to many of the grown economies, developing economies like that of South Africa definitely provide more opportunities. In fact, the general expectation is that the economic growth of developing economies will in the near future be higher than that of developing economies and will also provide bigger investment opportunities.
Secondly, it is also clear that exceptional leadership will be required in order to position South Africa as one of the foremost developing economies. Insight on South Africa within the world and the African context will be necessary to position South Africa and to develop the correct policies and strategies.
Thirdly, it appears that the opportunities will stretch across a wide spectrum and be multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary. We are going to need scientists, academics, teachers, business people, farmers, doctors, nurses, engineers, architects, environmental experts, et cetera to make South Africa a competitive country, but also one that can handle some the most important problems.
Fourthly, new skills will be required in a fast-changing world: better flexibility, the ability to work in multi-cultural contexts, better language skills, excellent technological skills, innovation, creativity and the ability to work in teams on different continents, to name but a few.
Finally, the future will place bigger demands on young people to achieve breakthroughs on political, economical, social, technological and environmental levels. It will continuously provide exciting opportunities.
Therefore it is necessary to qualify yourself as well and relevantly as possible in order to make a contribution to achieve breakthroughs and use opportunities. For most young people it will mean that you won’t only study once and then be finished. It will mean continuous, lifelong, self-learning.
It will also require that you get wide exposure in South Africa, on the African continent and in the world. There are a variety of organisations and societies at most South African universities that do important work in their community, as well as more broadly in Africa. Most universities have a community service leg that raise up local communities through a variety of activities. What is great is that these organisations usually make provision for a variety of talents; if for example you study law, you can offer your services to a legal aid clinic, or if your passion is mathematics, you can help out at a local high school by giving extra classes in maths.
A variety of campus societies and committees are usually involved in the community. Residences also often have a variety of activities to help with the conservation of the environment, piloting educational projects in the community and even organising African tours to collect money for a specific purpose. Furthermore there is, for example, a Habitat for Humanity society on several campuses that offers students the opportunity to build houses along with previously disadvantaged communities in squatter camps and townships (or even in other countries). Other societies, like bird watching clubs or the Extreme Ironing club, may not make a direct contribution, but will provide opportunities for students to get to know their environment and society in creative ways.
It is necessary to understand your community before you can want to start to change it. Use your time at university to learn more about your area, country and continent and then use that knowledge to make a difference in the world around you. The biggest satisfaction for the individual is often located in attempting something or getting involved in something that is bigger than you. The challenges and opportunities are exciting!
The expression was adapted from Charles Dickens’ “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”, the opening paragraph of his A tale of two cities that appeared in 1859.↩︎
When referring to the “Tigers of the East”, it usually means Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. The former East Block countries refer to the Soviet Union and her allies in Central and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Eastern Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania).↩︎
World Bank, 2004. African Development Indicators. Washington: World Bank.↩︎
The G8 (or Group of 8) consists of Brittain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada and the USA.↩︎
Sen, A. 2000. Development as freedom. London: Oxford University Press.↩︎
UNDP. 2003. “Millennium Development Goals: A compact among nations”. Human Development Report. New York: Oxford University Press.↩︎
UNDP. 2003. “South Africa”. Human Development Report. Oxford: Oxford University Press.↩︎
UNDP. 2003. “South Africa”. Human Development Report. Oxford: Oxford University Press.↩︎
Business Report. Cape Times. 30 March 2007. Jobs grow in number and quality. Cape Town: Cape Times.↩︎
Department van Environmental Affairs and Tourism. 2006. People – Planet – Prosperity: A strategic framework for sustainable development in South Africa. Pretoria: DOT.↩︎
Social development
As the United Nations Development Programme indicates, there can be no doubt that the new political dispensation has shown great progress with regard to the lives of normal civilians.7 That applies, despite some obvious shortages, especially with regard to the delivering of social services like education, housing, health, personal security (meant in the broader sense) and social safety nets. However, the effect of the policies on poverty relief and income and asset inequality is not worth mentioning.
Evidence of this can be found in the Human Development Index (HDI) of South Africa which has weakened between 1995 and 2003 from 0,73 to 0,67. By 1994 50,5% 8 of the South African population have fallen below the national poverty level; it has since improved to 43,2% in 2006 (people under R 3000 per annum) (see Presidency, Mid-term Development Indicators Review), but is still unacceptably high. Unemployment has also, in both the broad definition (40,6 % in 2001 to 37,3% in 2006) as well as the narrow definition (29,4% in 2001 to 25,5% in 2006) only shown moderate improvement. It is also important to note that unemployment is still the highest among black people (30,5%), as opposed to 4,5% among white people, 9,6% among Indians and 19,4% among Coloured people.9 The important fact to take note of here is that in general there have been an improvement in unemployment, but that people with higher levels of education and skills benefited the most.
Although the access to basic services has improved, as measured in the census of 2001, the Gini-quotient, which measures the degree of income inequality in the economy, is still unacceptably high. The Gini-quotient has weakened from 0,665 in 1994 to 0,685 in 2006. It is positive that inequality between races has decreased from 53,2% in 1994 to 41,6% in 2006 (Presidency, Mid-term Development Indicators Review). But the inequality within races, as measured with the so-called Theil-index, has increased from 35% in 2004 to 41,6% in 2006. The latter gap between races can possibly be ascribed to the growth in the black middle class and black economic empowerment which has led to the increase in the gap between rich and poor in the black community. Although between 3 and 4 million have probably joined the middle class and have thus stimulated the consumer demand and economic growth, the inequality within the black community has increased.
The life expectancy of South Africans at birth has declined from 54,6 in 2001 to 50,0 in 2007. The latter decline can specifically be ascribed to the occurrence of HIV/Aids. Women in prenatal care with HIV/Aids has increased from 7,6% in 1994 to 29,10% in 2006 (Presidency, Mid-Term Development Indicators Review).
On the positive side, between 1994 and 2006 2,3 million houses have been built in poor communities in South Africa; access to water has increased from 61,7% of the population in 1994 to 84,7% in 2006; access to sanitation has increased from 50% in 1994 to 71% in 2006; and access to electricity has increased from 50,9% in 1995 to 73,7% in 2006.
Due to the above poverty, inequality and unemployment patterns the level of basic needs fulfilment of a considerable percentage of the South African population is still unsatisfactory. It can have serious consequences for political stability in the country. Add to this the constant high levels of violent crimes and there is reason to believe that the “second liberation” of South Africa and the true creation of a free nation (in other words development as freedom) are still far from complete.