MARK BARNES: Local economic empowerment is the way to get us out of the hole
Imagine the impact if we invest in our people rather than just funding their ongoing dependence
I’m on a road trip that is taking me through numerous small towns throughout SA. It has become abundantly clear to me that our problems of inequality, poverty and unemployment will not be solved by grand schemes and sweeping, intention-less statements in boardrooms or at central government. We need to get into the trenches, and we need to get there fast. The yawning disparities are neither sustainable nor governable.
The solution may be articulated strategically, but its implementation will have to be granular to succeed. We need to decentralise decision-making and devolve economic units of power. Let’s call it local economic empowerment (LEE)...
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