A better South Africa for all can be a reality

Dr Roelf Meyer, a prominent politician with extensive experience in government, at some stage spoke to Dr Johan van Zyl, president and CEO of Toyota Europe, on what could be done to bring change in South Africa.

It was the end of the disastrous Zuma-era and Van Zyl used Japan’s model of planning for the Olympic Games in 2020 (now postponed to 2021) as an example of how business and government should work together.

Meyer, who served in both the pre- and post-democratic governments and who was the chief representative of the National Party government during the multiparty negotiations in 1993, was eager to explore how this model could be replicated in South Africa.

Recently, Meyer and a former Mpumalanga MEC, Mohammed Bhabha, held informal discussions with business leadership in Mbombela on how to pursue the dream of a better South Africa for all.

ALSO READ: TWK donates to PCA, gives little girl chance at life

Both men are now active in the Public Private Growth Initiative (PPGI), which is supported by Ramaphosa. The group works with government and complements government with the cross-pollination of ideas, skills and resources.

Meyer said the conversation started with the question: “How long do we want to blame our past? If Germany and Japan kept on blaming their past, none of them would have achieved the success they have.

We want South Africans to help us achieve our goals. We accept that when we negotiated our Constitution many years ago, we failed the country by not driving it with an implementation phase, but we have to move forward.”

Two years ago they presented their PPGI plan to Ramaphosa and identified three key areas where the South African economy could benefit greatly: the automotive-manufacturing industry, agriculture and tourism.

Meyer said the automotive industry has shown tremendous growth and is performing well. The agricultural sector is performing equally well, especially in the export market.

“But we need to bring more farmers into the equation. The state is currently the biggest owner of land with more than 4 000 farms on its inventory. In Mpumalanga alone there are a thousand farms lying unused.”

Meyer said land claimants now need to take ownership of these farms, but these new farmers would need support with training to ensure that the farms are successfully run and contribute to the economy.

The PPGI’s vision is to support these sectors and assist districts to develop their respective areas. The initiative has been launched in three districts and successes have already been recorded. In the Waterberg area the mining, tourism and agriculture industries have benefited from partnership initiatives.

Bhabha acknowledged that the past ten years have resulted in a trust deficit from the South African public and that “we come up with great plans, but are poor when it comes to implementation”.

But, according to him, the PPGI model has already led to positive results and he said that government was slowly acknowledging that a partnership model was the best solution to the current crisis in the country.

“If we can successfully implement and get traction on these three sectors, it will not only lead to more job creation, but it will have a long-term, lasting impact.”

Bhabha said it was necessary to come up with training programmes, “otherwise people who cannot farm will receive land”.

In the Machadodorp area there are currently a number of farms that are unused. While PPGI has the support from the minister of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, the initiative needs backing from community and business leaders and local government to drive the vision.

As an outflow of the meeting, a steering committee with representatives from various economic sectors was elected and will be working with Meyer, Bhabha and the PPGI team to jumpstart the process locally.

ALSO READ: The City of Mbombela responds to Barberton’s looming water crisis