LETTER: Those with SA’s best interests at heart must prevail

With only 11 months before the 2024 elections, voters have to start thinking deeply about what we really want. What are our priorities?

Almost two-thirds of young people are looking for work or have either given up looking for jobs. Black people wonder why the economy is still largely in the hands of whites, when the struggle was meant to reverse that, one of the goals of transformation. Hostility and aggressive behaviour that is always explained as a response to racism, real or imagined, will not help the situation.

There was a belief that free education would change things, and a lot of changes to the education system were implemented, leading to an oversupply of university graduates, many having opted for subjects that were not academically challenging and therefore easy to pass. Unfortunately, employment opportunities for this group of graduates are limited.

Then there are accusations of racism in the workplace, specifically discrimination against blacks, which may have little to do with the real situation on the ground. We have a toxic labour and employment environment, with unions forever demanding this and that from employers regardless of the global economic environment.

They don’t care whether there is economic depression; if they don’t get the increases they demand they destroy property and intimidate those who want to work. Remember, all this violence is seen by anyone who watches television. Who would be stupid enough to invest in a country like that?

Freedom has brought changes that we can be thankful for, but there is a lot that has gone wrong. How will all the young people that have remained jobless after finishing school ever start building pension funds in preparation for their old age?

Something has to change. As we make our mark at the polls, those who actually have the ability to change our future for the better must win the vote.

Cometh Dube-Makholwa
Midrand

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