The middle class is growing in leaps and bounds. When we have a middle class properly entrenched in South Africa, this bodes well for everything else. Today, compared to the era before 1990, the middle class constitutes almost a quarter of South Africa. Before 1990, it was only 5%.
People have a lot to lose. Despite the collapse of service delivery, we have millions of homes that get piped water. Despite load shedding, there are electrical lines to millions of homes. Today, despite the growth of shanty towns, we have 10 times more people whose homes are brick structures.
It can be shown what can be done if we have proper governance. I need only look at the Western Cape and Cape Town. Both are governed by the DA. The employment figures have turned around. Service delivery is the highest in the country and the Western Cape is the only province that is solvent.
Can you imagine what could be done if we had proper governance in the other provinces, especially Gauteng?
Tourism has bounced back to greater levels than it was pre-Covid. The rand is cheap, the country has a lot to offer and the international image is improving all the time despite the crime. Can you imagine what would happen to tourism if a new government tackled crime? Tourism costs us little and brings in a lot.
We have no natural enemies and we have no ecological disasters.
We have a youthful country, unlike the old-age bulge in Europe. If we took control of our education system, we could soar.
Look at the proposal for the national health system. If we could avoid this and help grow our private medical system, there would be enormous gains in medical tourism which is growing. Expats always come back to South Africa to have their medical and health issues sorted out.
Our constitution and legislation are protective of minorities. There are entrenched freedoms, such as the freedom of religion, which are not easily obtained in other jurisdictions.
We have an independent and effective judiciary. This is largely intact and our judges are able to speak truth to power.
We have an independent press and journalists are not hounded. This is important and acts as a watchdog over government excesses.
It is said that we have excellent infrastructure which needs repair and revitalisation but the infrastructure is there and ready for economic growth.
It should also be noted that we have a sophisticated and trusted banking system in South Africa. Internationally, we are well known for the protection given by our banking system. Unfortunately, politics has interfered with this, and with South Africa’s interference on the world stage, other jurisdictions are starting to question our systems.
For instance, Agoa is being threatened and other international agreements are becoming tenuous. Our government’s interference in political disputes and our untoward interference in other people’s wars has placed the economy at risk. If we abuse the benefits under our international agreements, we will lose an enormous amount of jobs.
We have seen how our alliance with Russia might threaten South African vehicle exports. This accounts for R157 billion in exports and should, by all accounts, grow in the near future. However, if we are excluded from Agoa, then the entire industry would be under threat. The industry employs more than 100 000 people in the automotive sector. With our unemployment rate running at more than 40%, we cannot afford this.
* Michael Bagraimn.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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