NEVA MAKGETLA: Democracy means the government must find solutions the majority can live with
Two reasons why plans announced in the medium-term budget policy statement in November, are scary
In any true democracy, there’s always a push and pull between objective realities and the needs of the electorate. In practice, policies that impose huge hardship on the majority cannot be implemented outside of catastrophes such as pandemics or wars. Technocrats have to find innovative solutions that are socially and politically viable, not just technically sound.
It does not help to fall back on impractical dicta memorised in classrooms, then blame the politicians for not driving them through at any cost. The problem is not politicians — it is that as long as we live in a democracy, the government has to find solutions that the majority can live with...
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