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By Patrick Kuwana*
The foundational solution to addressing the economic future of South Africa might be found in something very simple, (but not easy) – ‘emotions’. Our ability to separate racially derived emotion from the economic reality in South Africa will determine the future wealth and prosperity of every citizen.
Are we looking for solutions in the ‘traditional’ areas of economics when in fact we should be focusing on the area of thinking, emotional and cultural intelligence first?
The pre-1994 economic system and structure was built upon a rejection based ideology that excluded a huge portion of the population from equal and fair participation. This meant that generational wealth was either built or lost depending on which side of the ‘dividing line’ one belonged to.
Sadly that ‘dividing line’ was a racial one and hence will continue to invoke deep racially derived emotions. One of the biggest traps we have fallen into is the failure to separate the structurally flawed socio-economic system of the past from the personal and cultural identities of the people who were separated by the ‘dividing line’.
In 1994 the political ‘dividing line’ was removed but we all have to recognise the existence of the residue of that unjust system and it’s corresponding deep roots which need to be pulled out so that rebuilding can take place.
The most important point is that this rebuilding process cannot be done by one racial group or one political party – it can only be done by bringing together the collective intelligence of all stakeholders to co-create an inclusive economy. It will take selfless leadership to pull this off.
A country (or any organisation for that matter) can only increase its competitiveness if it drives up levels of production and innovation by harnessing 100% of its human potential and also 100% of its resource/capital potential. South Africa struggles and ranks very low in this regard as evidenced by the current +/- 0.7% growth rate.
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The reality is that a nation’s economy cannot grow if resources are forcibly taken from one group and given to another. Likewise a nation’s economy cannot grow if a large section of the population does not have access to resources and thus cannot participate.
Any system that hampers the full economic participation of all its citizen’s is unsustainable and is a recipe for slow growth and a greater level of global un-competitiveness. The challenge that South Africa faces right now is that both these scenarios invoke deep emotions because of the fresh wounds that were inflicted by the ‘dividing line’.
So what are the choices?
One option is to take a racially driven emotional stand to defend a position that on face value seemingly serves the best short term interests of a particular people group but which in reality is unsustainable and will explode to the severe detriment of both. The other choice is a more difficult one because of deep seated human pride.
It requires the humble approach of intentionally laying down racial pride and emotion so that the vision of a growing and vibrant economy that will create jobs and bridge the inequality gap can be pursued using ‘inclusive multiplication based economic thinking’.
It requires a rigorous regime of skills development and skills transfer to take place to compliment a program of economic resource balancing so that 100% of the population can participate in utilizing 100% of the nation’s resources/capital for production purposes.
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In a previous article I emphasised that this approach requires mature leadership – leadership that is prepared to lay down personal/racial/political agenda’s to embrace the greater agenda of seeking to bring about an environment of national trust and unity so that a collective economic implementation strategy can be architected and executed.
The ‘dividing line’ is still fixed in the minds of most South African’s fuelling emotions, clouding judgement and hence driving most decision making processes in the country.
Our emotional ‘guns’ are loaded with predetermined thoughts based on the ‘dividing line’ and when they go off we immediately assume the prevailing dominant stance of blame and throwing insults which fuels greater fragmentation and separation. We end up attacking each other’s identities (who we are) instead of addressing the real structural issues at hand.
South Africa desperately needs to unload and transform its thinking – our future depends on it.
We will never be able to deal with difficult national issues when our emotional guns are loaded due to pain, anger, guilt, frustration, fear, etc. It’s impossible to afford each other dignity and respect – the prerequisites to building trust and unity which are required to build a nation.
The most painful emotion is one of regret – ask any Zimbabwean! Regret when a nation laments how stubborn pride across the racial lines has destroyed the heritage and inheritance of both white and black children (and grandchildren and maybe even further generations to come).
• Patrick Kuwana is founder and CEO of Crossover Transformation Group. You can contact him at patrick@crossovertransformation.co.za.
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