One way or the other I have been involved in business in South Africa for fifty years from 1967 to 2017. In this time, I have seen 27 years of Apartheid Rule, 13 years of Fiscal Discipline despite the yawning gap between democratic freedom and financial freedom and 10 years of the descent of South Africa into a typical African Kleptocracy.
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I have witnessed the shift from popular Keynesian Economics to untenable Marxist Principles and the shift from White Domination to Black Oligopoly. I have in the past suffered under the world’s abhorrence of the Apartheid Regime, I have bathed in the glow of the world’s support of South Africa after 1994 and I have despaired at the theft of my country in 2017 by non-partisan gangsters, operating through treasonous South Africans, starting with the President of the country. I have watched South Africa rise to greater than 15% prevalence on the HIV/AIDS scale, the highest incidence on the African Continent.
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I have watched aghast as South Africa slipped from leading country on the Continent to a distant also ran.
I have been incredulous at the theft of South Africa’s strategic oil reserves.
I have not seen the piracy at Escom because it was too dark.
I have marvelled that PRASA bought trains that do not suit the tracks but the thieves stole R10 million for every R50 million train purchased.
I have given up watching sport as a range of one day wonders embarrassed the Bafana-Bafana, Protea and Springbok colours.
I cannot believe that the President survived two calls to step down. The Gravy Train must have more passengers aboard than first thought.
Planes don’t fly, ships don’t sail and the army is on duty in the DRC. So, there is no chance of a military coup anytime soon.
I have watched as the Private Sector, ever motivated by profit, stood idly by as the Public Sector usurped the role of the Private Sector and diverted business activity to the profit unconscious Public Sector. In this endeavour the Public Sector will soon collapse under a mountain of debt, losses and guarantees.
I have seen with horror the burgeoning numbers in the Executive and in the State- Owned Enterprises knowing that these increases in personnel were not accompanied by any form of productivity.
I have seen the Treasury budget review data for 2016/2017 which estimates show 1.9 million individuals are expected to contribute an estimated 80% of income tax. Personal Taxation accounts for 38% of the R1,265 trillion National Budget. When they leave for fairer climes I wonder who will replace them. The black middle class cannot emerge with such poor secondary and tertiary performances resulting in an unemployment figure more than some say 40%. (officially 27%)
I have witnessed the decline in the standard of education despite the increase in tax thrown in that direction and the horrendous increase in the unemployed youth of South Africa (now above 50%). In this regard, I have noted the alarming influence of the South African Democratic Teachers Union. Their suppression of the Black Youth and hijacking of an honest teaching process can only be described as kleptocratic.
All the while the Rand has plunged against almost all other currencies. I am still startled when I recall that on my starting day in 1973 at Coca-Cola, it took $1, 49 to buy a Rand. Hoe lyk hy nou ou pal.
I am too old and too unhealthy to do anything constructive about the problem, but my kids and grandkids can still seek out a country driven by Christian principles, morality, endeavour and honesty. They should find a country that protects its citizens and allows them to become educated, utilize their talents to the fullest and develop their personal standing in life regardless of colour.
