Publication: The Mercury
Issued:
Date: 2005-12-30
Reporter: Editorial
Reporter:
Reporter:
We
need seriously to take stock as South Africa enters the seventh year of the
millennium.
In some respects, the country has far exceeded the bold
expectations that preceded its first democratic elections in 1994. In others it has failed dismally.
Economically
speaking, the recent All Media Products Survey pointed to rapid growth of the
country's so-called middle class, which is a good sign for the future stability
of any democracy.
There has been a boom in black spending on consumer
goods, with cellphones, white goods and furniture in huge demand. Car sales have
hit new highs.
Many people also have enjoyed new access to services like
water and electricity - although the roll-out has been slow.
Yet we
should be alarmed at the lack of progress, even
regression, in certain areas. Crime, while showing a
small decline, remains hopelessly high. Protests have mounted against the
lack of delivery of certain services. Poverty remains endemic.
Some
serious cracks are starting to show in the political and social fabric of the
nation. The attitude of too many public servants remains
uncivil. Certain businessmen will do all in their power to sidestep good
practice or even the law.
Corruption remains a major
issue. We will never really know how much damage the Schabir Shaik case
and the political demise of Jacob Zuma has done in terms of lost investment and
lack of confidence in the moral rearmament *1
campaign which Zuma once nominally headed.
Also ominous is the inability
of some government departments to handle even the most basic tasks - like
issuing citizens with their identity documents. The depth of national despair
over the performance of this department was underlined recently by an outpouring
of sympathy for the exasperated young man who regrettably took matters into his
own hands by holding a Home Affairs employee hostage pending receipt of his ID
book.
Another appalling failure is that of the
Department of Public Works to maintain some of the country's most vital
buildings. It was totally unacceptable that thousands of Durban prisoners should
have been left without venues for court hearings owing to the flooding of the
basements - something that basic maintenance would have avoided.
The
unnecessary drama around the conversion to unleaded fuel is an example of poor
communication and planning. Both the government and the fuel industry must take
some of the blame for the inconvenience inflicted on the travelling public.
The inadequate standards still prevailing at many schools is further
cause for alarm. According to the national Education Department's grade six
national systemic evaluation exercise, eight out of 10 pupils are still not
achieving in maths, with an average score of 27%.
More than half of our
students are dropping out of tertiary education without graduating, according to
another survey. This represents a gross and tragic waste of energy and human
talent.
One has to ask how much better we could be doing when, after all
this, the country's economy can continue to grow at 4% plus
*2. The successes achieved are a testimony to the resilience and good
sense of the country's people.
The vast majority of those who are
unemployed, or inadequately housed or fed, are still prepared to give the
government and businesses a chance to make things work. In this we have reached
political and social levels of maturity believed to be impossible a decade
ago.
Nevertheless we should be seriously concerned that South Africa does
not lose its first-world status, even while attending to the disadvantages
experienced by those in what is called the shadow economy.
In 2006 we
need to celebrate our significant successes. However, we also need to address
these problem areas, above all not allowing standards to
dip. To do so would be to place the nation in peril.
With acknowledgement to The Mercury.
*1 Can the Arms Deal, as it was
implemented, be described as moral rearmament or immoral
armament?
*2 Beware lies, damned lies and some of
the pronouncements of the Statistician-General.