LETTER: Life carries our hopes — not politics

There is clearly something wrong in SA when only 7% of SA think we are moving in the right direction (“Most South Africans think country is on wrong path, survey shows”, April 12).

Luyolo Mkentane write: “This is the latest evidence of discontent in a country trapped in a cycle of low economic growth with entrenched poverty and unemployment.”  Of course the findings of the Social Research Foundation's opinion polls can be questioned. The 7% could be 5% or 15%, but the point is there is something desperately wrong.

If we want better days we should not pin our hopes on the 2024 general elections. In fact, politics in general is not the place to look for solutions. We need to ask “who are South Africans?”, and pin our hopes on the people — government departments, businesses and the public.

Life comes first, then growth. If we apply this to SA, what is needed is enabling life for later growth. Whether it is government considering a licence, a company doing business or someone taking a course, we must do it because we want to enable a new and better life.

I am part of the mining sector and what this means for mining is enablement of the mining life cycle. It is only when there is a mine that one has a value chain and growth. And it is not life at any cost. Life must happen in a value system.

As South Africans, regardless of whether we are in government or business, or a member of the public, we need only one key performance indicator at this stage — life!

Prof Frederick Cawood
School of Mining Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand

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