Mini-Post № 3 – Nation Planning?
2018
will be remembered in South Africa as the year those who can leave did leave -
statistics will show emigration records were broken[i].
After hundreds of years of learning
about each other, the race is lost … we all fell at the final
hurdle.
Although
politics and processes were different back then history
shows the whites in the team made some dreadful mistakes but on every occasion, they paid for them.
The
election of the Nationalist Party destroyed every ounce of inter-racial
goodwill[ii]
that grew within the ambit of World War II work. Verwoerd made things worse by
creating a white republic in 1961 and Smith stupidly followed suit by
dismissing the workable British
plan to enable-induce a participatory-capitalist model.
A
significant exodus of educated Afrikaners happened in 1961 and with every crazy
move by those visionless leaders thereafter moderate/smart whites left … they
knew there is no point talking to a people who believe in belief, and that’s the right-wing. And
it wasn’t just the whites … in Rhodesia most of the few[iii]
really smart blacks left too.
By
1978 white Rhodesians had realised a nation in the tough environment of Africa
cannot be built by one group alone – it is a multiracial task. In the 1980s the
whites of SA came to the same conclusion
and slowly the train climbed the slope to majority rule in 1994.
But
it wasn’t a one-way political lane: IMF interference in Zimbabwe in the 90s saw many
professionals and skilled blacks leave while in SA Mandela took over
Africa's most advanced country without enough competent managers and professionals.
Since
then report after report by the Auditor General and daily public demonstrations
of unhappiness with governance suggest competency levels have dropped further.
It would be interesting to find out what percentage
of SA’s GDP comes from the recycling of corruption monies, illegal selling of
public assets, tenders paid-work not done, BEE transfers, court actions and
other negatives – all wasteful but add to GDP nonetheless.
But
the biggest problem is where the whites saw the error of their ways there has
been no reciprocal move from black leaders to embrace whites to build the
country. Currently, many black
politicians facing the abyss are content
to blame the whites. Only they can correct that myth but for the whites, many realise they are back where they were in
the 1970s … there is no point talking to a people who believe in belief.
But
it does present an opportunity for Zimbabwe.
The
Zanu congress was held over the weekend – participants
discussed ways to reverse the economic downturn. If President Mnangagwa is
serious[iv]
he will this week be shouting,
‘Come,
we need you to rebuild for we’ve got so far behind the education and how-to-do-it curve.’
‘We
need to redesign our army, to mobilise all to bring them commercially into the AI and Climate Change stream.’
14 December
2018
MINI-POST № 2– NATION PLANNING?
When
the newest Finance Minister presented the budget Professor Bond quite rightly wrote
‘No-big-picture-in sight’[v].
South Africa’s government simply hasn’t a long
term view and excitement over minimum wages proves it.
Malaysia[vi]
too is upping minimum wages but on sounder
grounds - 96% of Malaysians are employed[vii].
In SA around 50% of the future, the youth, are unemployed - that’s why they’re
angry Ramaphosa.
A ‘feel-good’ exercise is reduced to a sloppy ‘win-me-a-vote’
game.
When
the new minimum kicks in Big Business will (again[viii])
(rightly[ix])
have self-serving SA unions by their curlies
and similarly, more private people are going forget the hassle, import a
robot. It amounts to President ‘Marikana’
Ramaphosa knowingly only helping the few who have a job at the lower end of
society. And logically he will be helping fewer: last year 36,000
‘domestic-help’ sector folk lost their jobs[x].
And anyway, once transport and time
costs are factored in, what family can live on the income proposed[xi]?
It amounts to a meal or two for most of the ANC cabinet … why is it they cannot
‘see’ to invest in the most simple of positive-advancements today for tomorrow’s
tomorrow?
Integrated
communities[xii]
and nationwide job creation[xiii]
are examples of absolute minimums. Is
it fair to say it hasn’t happened because it requires
a portion each of competency, organisation skill, honesty and vision from those
who have the reins? Instead Danny
Msiza[xiv]
types emerge.
And
now Artificial Intelligence (AI) is
coming … unstoppable – not negotiable.
It
is an eclectic phenomenon that will change the world. We will live longer, the
earth will be treated better and some among us will even create-initiate changes to the human condition, systems and environments far beyond anything present day gods
have been credited with[xv].
But AI is also going to create a massive class of people designated ‘useless’.
They won’t participate because they don’t have the education or the smarts to
re-invent themselves every 10 years or so[xvi].
We don’t know much about how the world will be but we do know change will be that rapid.
It
is exciting, but for the ill-prepared, serious.
Is it "lackadaisical" whites (who have no power) Ramaphosa talks of[xvii]
or does the problem lie with ANC cadres who don’t seem to understand that by 2030 it’s probable 40% of Asians and Europeans
and over 80% of Africans will be in that useless class? Lowering standards[xviii],
handing out certificates will not qualify people to play. It is about competency
at the level of demands made on the brains of today’s junior engineering class
– definitely IQ at 100.
It
is impossible to train the unprepared to become adaptive problem solvers[xix].
Instead of laying foundations 24 years ago the ANC elected to not see real
problems in the hope they’ll go away, preferring children’s housey-housey games
with side-issues like affirmative action, putting people ‘back[xx]’
on the land and minimum wages.
What
are the 80 per cent, the unemployable of 15
years time who don’t even understand Climate Change now, to do while the
robots work?
Is
SA’s leadership hoping California or China will agree to tax themselves to pay
SA a basic income because they’ve failed to keep up?
The
inability of Africa’s politicians to see further than the next bank statement
as projected by ANC policies and the attitudes of the ‘kill-five-whites-for-every-black’
Mngxitama[xxi] types
are going to bury South Africa - alive.
But
there is hope. A nationwide national army run
on a paternal – capitalist model by a visionary general committee could swing
it[xxii].
MINI-POST № 1 – Nation Planning?
In
the clear-cut article ‘Here’s what will happen to our roads if we don’t pay
e-tolls’ (see businesstech.co.za) South Africans are warned the road system
will collapse.
The
problem coming is far-far bigger than
coughing up the Rands … SA is running low on civil engineers. Not tomorrow,
maybe not in 2019, but SA will soon enough mirror Nigeria[xxiii].
Can you see the likes of Andile ‘kill-five-whites-for-every-black’ Mngxitama[xxiv],
EFF’s Malema or Dr Nzimande (Sociology - Minister of Transport[xxv])
fixing any roads?
South
Africa was known for having some of the best roads in Africa but, that’s it - ‘was
known’. Science and Technology Minister Pandor recently confirmed of the 1500
engineering graduates yearly ‘only about half go on to practice engineering’
and I don’t think emigration is factored into that. There are countries where
one can take a walk and feel safe that want SA’s engineers … and they’re going
there.
The
Minister responds by saying SA needs to encourage overseas trained engineers to
come to help build the country[xxvi]
– what? With danger pay? The ANC, EFF[xxvii]
and thorny groups like BLF are doing their best to chase away the few they
have.
But
here’s the long-term bomb … International group Aurecon[xxviii]
(headed up by South African educated Gustav Rohde) last year inferred that more needs to be spent on educating
engineers (in 2107 it supported 60 students) noting that the biggest problem is
(especially among the disadvantaged) finance[xxix].
But is that the real issue?
Or
do the politicians need to face up to the horrible truth SA either doesn’t have
enough smart people who want to be
engineers (perhaps some haven’t been identified) or they are simply not
there?
[i] https://www.thesouthafrican.com/south-africans-are-emigrating-abroad-in-record-high...
[iii] African education only
saw lift-off after WWII. Doctors, agriculturalists, researchers, secondary
teachers and academics left.
[iv] Mnangagwa says Zanu-PF in particular and Zimbabwe in general must
embrace the rule of law and constitutionalism … M&G today, 16 Dec 18.
[v]
https://mg.co.za/article/2018-10-26-00-mboweni-misses-the-big-picture
[vi] A partner in backward thinking. Malaysia and South Africa, both
experts in corruption and public monies misappropriation-cum-theft practices
follow many similar nation destroying policies such as, example only, affirmative
action.
[vii] https://tradingeconomics.com › Malaysia
[viii] Starting in newly independent Zambia when Anglo-American saw the Nationalist Party of SA
were doomed they raised wages – dramatically – but in return those who got
higher pay were expected to perform more at a higher standard and a
commensurate number of folk were ‘released’, free to go sit at home.
[xi] https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/170981/how-much-it-costs-to-feed-a-family-in-south-africa-in-2017
[xiv] https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/ancs-danny-msiza-his-r164-million-empire-20181212
and at https://reviewonline.co.za/105566/msiza-new-anc-provincial-treasurer/
[xvi] Google is becoming
very censorious but even so, look up thinkers like Sam Harris and Yuval Harari
and ask of the ‘useless class’.
[xvii] https://www.fin24.com/Economy/ramaphosa-growing-black-anger-about-lackadaisical-whites-with-power-20181213
[xviii] Seen again yesterday
at the HAD … https://mg.co.za/article/2018-12-14-00-roof-caves-in-on-housing-agency?
[xxi] https://southafricatoday.net/media/south-africa-video/racism-videos/south-africa-blf-has-declared-war-on-white-people/
[xxii] In South Africa’s case, where 90% of the politicians and about 80%
of the population can only function to a reasonable level of competency when
under sound and loving supervision, a nationwide national army is the only way…
http://www.douglasschorr.com/2018/11/no-but-you-can-see-witch-doctor.html
[xxiii] https://www.pulse.ng/bi/lifestyle/here-are-the-countries-with-the-best-and-worst-roads-in-africa
[xxiv] https://southafricatoday.net/media/south-africa-video/racism-videos/south-africa-blf-has-declared-war-on-white-people/
[xxviii] Aurecon – A global engineering and infrastructure advisory company
… https://www.aurecongroup.com/