CHAPTER 5
Taking all of this in I gazed out of the window of the restaurant and saw well dressed, happy, obviously affluent and employed people going about their daily business in the Village. I thought then about all of the unhappy waitrons and restaurant staff constantly seeking a better paid job to try and make ends meet. Why were we the most disparate nation on earth?
I had lived through the post 1948 era when Afrikaans Nationalism had reared its ugly head and had relegated English speakers to second class citizens and people of colour to no citizenship at all. We had all fought that ogre for forty six years and that civil unrest worked to the great detriment of the country as it became the pariah of the world. Nonetheless, even as a divided nation, South Africa prospered within Africa mainly because of the wealth of mineral resources it possessed and that the world demanded. That good fortune also spilled over in a lesser form to the people of colour that was able to find employment through South Africa’s mining endeavours.
In 1994 the yoke of Apartheid was removed and all citizens of South Africa became equal and politically free. The world acknowledged the potency and influence possible from this democratic first world economy in a decidedly third world Africa at that time.
The world feted and courted the new South Africa and we strutted with a new national pride free of petty racial constraints.
Progress since then has been ponderous, corrupted, belabored and in many cases extremely regressive.
Paradise lost.
Why is inequality so pronounced in South Africa?
There is a myriad of reasons, but some of the key factors include skewed initial endowments (or assets that people and households have) post-1994 in the form of, for example, human capital, access to financial capital, and ownership patterns. All of these, and other endowments, served to generate a highly unequal growth trajectory, ensuring that those households with these higher levels of endowments gained from the little economic growth there was.
In addition, we are an economy characterized by a growth path which is both skills-intensive and capital-intensive, thus not generating a sufficient quantum of low-wage jobs – which is key to both reducing unemployment and inequality.
What can be done about it? Is there anything the political economist Thomas Piketty can teach us?
Piketty’s thesis in part argues that schooling is critical for reducing inequality in the long-run. Human capital accumulation is one possible mechanism through which to overcome a growth path where the rate of return on capital ® exceeds the rate of economic growth (g) – r>g.
To generate a more equal growth path, thus equalizing r and g, it is argued that the schooling and educational pipeline plays a potentially crucial role in an economy’s long-run growth trajectory.
Haroon Bhorat, Professor of Economics and Director of the Development Policy Research Unit, University of Cape Town
‘Education is a necessity subject so urgent it must surely top ‘the ‘to do list’ of the President. Alas no. He gives credence instead to the notoriously retrogressive SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) backed by that ever grasping dalliance partner, Cosatu. Over the past five years SADTU has the dubious distinction of topping the list of days lost through strike action. Of all working days lost in this period, 42 percent were incurred by our infamous teachers’ union.
Andrew Levy, veteran labour specialist, says: “We hope one day teachers will realise their moral obligation and use strikes responsibly”. Servaas van den Berg, Professor of Economics at Stellenbosch University, adds: “Strike action puts at risk the chances of children getting a good education”. And economist Mike Schussler goes as far as saying: “SADTU is keeping apartheid alive”.
So, let me try to understand. The future of South Africa lies in the hands of the youth of the nation. The key to that event lies in the education of that youth. The success of that endeavour depends on teachers being at school to teach and having the moral obligation and incentive to teach. And finally, the government having the will to prioritise education above all else. That scenario seems too simple. Perhaps those entrusted to execute these plans have a greedier and more devilish agenda?’
And as Rome continued to burn, the modern-day Nero and his merry fiddlers continued to fiddle – late into the night’
Stepping Stones by Bryan Britton 2010
