State failure widens our yawning wealth gap
The government's remarkable success at further enriching the private sector is dangerous, divisive and in nobody's best interests, writes Bruce Whitfield
For all its bluster about putting itself at the centre of a developmental state, South Africa's government is being remarkably successful at further enriching the private sector: thanks to its failure to provide basic services, the chasm continues to widen between those who can afford to opt out of the public system and the growing majority who cannot. It's dangerous, divisive and in nobody's best interests. Much was made this week of ace prosecutor Gerrie Nel's move to conservative interest group AfriForum. But if you set aside the noise about right-wing agendas, Nel's move tells a far more important story about South Africa's dual economy. With the National Prosecuting Authority in disarray, Nel has been unable to function professionally, and, under internal investigation, found his tenure untenable. He argues he can do more good with access to funding to tackle selected privately funded prosecutions. The law, like education, security and pensions, is increasingly the domain of th...
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