ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
TRUDI MAKHAYA: The past has got in the way of future growth prospects
It’s time to revisit assumptions about implementation and substance and to take corrective action
Three years ago, I spoke to British entrepreneur James Caan, who was a guest at the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship. He was here to talk about entrepreneurship and I expected him to take a dim view of the state of the country and the economy. As it turns out, he was quite enthusiastic about SA’s prospects. Perhaps the sense of disappointment that permeates popular assessments of postapartheid SA reflects the chasm between expectation and reality. The expectation of a rainbow nation; the reality of an unequal society where more than a quarter of the working age population cannot find employment, where poverty continues to stalk black women and children. This moment demands an answer to the question whether the postapartheid project can be salvaged within the bounds of the negotiated settlement. It is time to revisit some key assumptions about South African society and development. Looking back over the past two decades, it appears that the grand choices that animate policy often h...
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