We have been in power for the past 23 years. What do we have to show for it? Not much. Instead, the economy is down, unemployment high, quality of education poor, just to mention three issues. And nothing suggests that things will improve anytime soon. There is no plan to take us out of this black hole.
The pertinent question is: Is the white monopoly capital (WMC) to blame for all of that? The answer is a big “No”! We blacks have made a habit of blaming whites for our lack of development. Yes, we suffered at their hands for a long time: They suppressed and oppressed us for having a dark skin. That’s cruel and inexcusable. But we have to move on.
For the record, I’m not their (whites) apologist. Neither am I oblivious to the legacy of apartheid and the damage it has done to our psyches and physically. The scars, emotional and physical, are still visible. However, we need to move on, as I have already indicated.
The truth is that we have the political power – short of economic power. What are we doing with it? I will tell you what the apartheid regime (read Afrikaners) has done with the political power. They have built institutions such as banks, Sasol, Eskom and the CSIR. They have also empowered their own with skills development and created a conducive environment for them to do business.
Currently we rely on the institutions that were built by the apartheid regime. When are going to build our own, which will form part of our legacy? Now or never. It’s time we build our own top-performing schools and excellent institutions. Otherwise, we will forever cry ‘racism’ and blame the WMC for our lack of economic liberation.
The news that business (read whites) is sitting on top of billions and reluctant to re-invest it in our country is disturbing. If that is true, then business is disingenuous. However, we cannot force business to invest in our country if it doesn’t want to.
That said, we have the numbers on our side: we are a majority. And there is power in numbers. So we can use our power to uplift each other. Meaning that we can support black businesses until they thrive. The challenge is that we are supporting other people’s businesses, not our own. We need to change that – and our mind-set.
The problem in South Africa is not the WMC, as some would have us believe, but politics. So if we want to fix what’s wrong with our country, we need to do something about our politics. Otherwise, the status quo will remain and we will continue to play second fiddle to others. Is that what we want?
