MICHAEL AVERY: Chance for Godongwana to break cycle, but don’t hold your breath
A responsible government would ensure social spending drives long-term economic growth
The ratcheting up of racial tensions in SA is so tragically predictable that it’s sometimes easy to miss the obvious point. There is a widely held view, often expressed in the letters sections of this newspaper, that policies around affirmative action (employment equity) and the redistribution of wealth (broad-based BEE) are an unfair form of reverse discrimination.
The irony is that white and black South Africans are having the same conversation and share the same reservations from different viewpoints, and it’s about economic exclusion. The simple truth is that if there were more jobs available, there would be far less class or race conflict in SA. However, in a low-growth, low-trust nation politics can swiftly become zero-sum. That makes reconciliation tough. ..
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