While apartheid is dead the outdated feudal system keeps the country’s poor dependent on the governing party, writes Shawn Hagedorn
While apartheid is dead the outdated feudal system keeps the country’s poor dependent on the governing partyDiscovering it could defang critics with one word, the ANC institutionalised the term “inequality”, and most people now emphasise it when describing SA’s economy.
The inequality issues of prosperous nations are irrelevant here. Inequality amid broad prosperity is a different economic species than inequality reflecting the majority being perpetually poor. Consider how today’s rich and poor communities both confront daunting nutrition issues, yet their causes and cures are worlds apart.
Depicting history as an oppression narrative seeks to entrench political elites, yet it devastates growth prospects while substituting dependency for upliftment. The world became a much better place not because humans suddenly became kinder. Rather, superior alternatives were invented to counter the might-is-right rule of the jungle that had always prevailed.
Humans are the dominant species because we create large yet adaptable societies. But this requires shared beliefs. The European feudal system hijacked Christianity’s “original sin” and then helped develop the “divine rights of kings”. The formula co-opted a belief system to exploit guilt and demand submission.
Nations with high poverty have high inequality, which can be overcome by reducing poverty using proven tools. Conversely, inequality in prosperous countries is atopic as remedies are so elusive. This largely reflects the pace at which the global economy is being fundamentally reconceived. Rapid changes tend to provoke unequal outcomes, at least initially.
If the Treasury borrows R1bn for 10 years, it should be able to generate an additional R100m in growth each year to cover interest payments while also being able to pay the principal back at maturity. Instead, our government borrows to sustain an unsustainable welfare state. Conversely, if 1-million affluent foreigners emigrated to SA, the country's inequality and job prospects would both spike as the key impediment, market access to affluent consumer, would erode.
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