Transforming to Re-De

21st October 2016

By: Riaan de Lange

  

Font size: - +

Re-De’ in the headline is pronounced ‘ready’ and its relevance will become clear as you continue to read this article.

A telephone directory, I have been told, is a book that is bursting with characters but does not offer much in the way of a story. If anything, present-day South Africa is awash with characters, but, given the absence of a lead character, there is not much of a story line – what we have is a collective muddle, fostering a state of anarchy in most spheres of society.

‘Anarchy’ is a state of disorder resulting from the absence or nonrecognition of authority or other controlling systems. ‘Disorder’ is itself a state of confusion. It is quite evident that, currently, South Africa is a land of confusion (apologies to the rock band Genesis, which released the single Land of Confusion in 1986). Its lyrics are as follows: “I must’ve dreamed a thousand dreams; Been haunted by a million screams; But I can hear the marching feet; They’re moving into the street. Now did you read the news today; They say the danger’s gone away; But I can see the fire’s still alight; There burning into the night. There’s too many men; Too many people; Making too many problems; And not much love to go around; Can’t you see; This is a land of confusion. This is the world we live in; And these are the hands we’re given; Use them and let’s start trying; To make it a place worth living in. Ooh Superman where are you now; When everything’s gone wrong somehow; The men of steel, the men of power; Are losing control by the hour. This is the time; this is the place; So we look for the future; But there’s not much love to go around; Tell me why, this is a land of confusion.”

The word ‘anarchy’ is said to have originated from the Greek word anarchia, which combines ‘without’ and ‘ruler’, ‘leader’ or ‘authority’, which then implies a person or society without rulers or leaders. German philosopher Immanuel Kant identifies four kinds of government: law and freedom without force (anarchy), law and force without freedom (despotism), force without freedom and law (barbarism) and force with freedom and law (republic). So, are you convinced that South Africa is in a state of anarchy or is it transitioning, implying that it is in a state of transformation?

The word ‘transformation’, in its general sense, means a marked change in form, nature or appearance, while, in mathematics, it is a process by which one figure, expression or function is converted into another one of similar value. Yet, in the South African sense, transformation tends to be destructive, with the replacement being anything but of similar value or comparison, tending to be lesser. Why is this the case? If it is not about improvement, then what is it about? Why transform if the intention is not to improve? To whose benefit is it then? Surely, it is of no benefit to the collective South Africa society.

This brings me to ‘re’. It is a prefix expressing a relation to another word. In this context, you would need to expand your vocabulary by adding ‘revitalisation’ – in the economic sense, that is. On October 4, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced the launch, on that day, of the first phase of the revitalised Isithebe industrial park, in Mandeni, KwaZulu-Natal. (I know it as the Isithebe industrial estate, one of the projects in which my father took a leading role in terms of direction and responsibility way back in the late 1970s and early 1980s.) If I recall correctly, it was one of the decentralisation projects of the time. So, why then the need for its revitalisation? As I remember, it attracted a large number of investors back then, and now it is said that “it has the potential to attract potential investors and create sustainable jobs”! This is quite confusing, but then again South Africa is a land of confusion. For the uninitiated, the Isithebe revitalisation initiative is the first of ten industrial park revitalisation initiatives that the DTI has prioritised as part of its Revitalisation of Industrial Parks Programme. Revitalisation is also defined as the revival of the neglected. So, for there to be revitatisation, there should have been neglect.

Mention of the word ‘decentralisation’ in the preceding paragraph reminds me of the prefix ‘de’, which denotes removal or reversal, which seems to have increased in prevalence in South Africa. Arguably the most telling of reversals in present-day South Africa is ‘deindustrialisation’. So, who is responsible for its occurrence in this country? (You might recall from my earlier columns that I contend that the golden rule in business – yes, there is only one – is to establish blame and apportion it.) If you believe deindustrialisation is due to the advent of free trade, which was institutionalised when the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was established – well, the WTO came into being only on January 1, 1995. And remember our government’s ‘Holier than GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade)’ attitude.

As I wrote this article, the student fee protest (an expression of disapproval or objection) continued unabated. This can be summed up by another de-prefix word: destruction. Why is there a tendency among South Africans – in all spheres of our society – to engage in destructive behaviour?

In my humble opinion, what South Africa is lacking is, quite simply, leadership. There are just too many characters and, as a consequence, simply no direction. This is reminiscent of The Far Side cartoon, which depicts two sheep sitting at the bar, having a drink, and the one, acting in surprise to the other, says: “Well, what d’ya know! . . . I’m a follower too”. The question to be asked in South Africa today is: Who do we follow?

South Africans would do well to heed the words of General George S Patton Jr, who commanded the US Seventh Army in the Mediterranean and European theatres of World War II but is best known for his leadership of the US Third Army in France and Germany following the Allies’ invasion of Normandy in June 1944. He said: “Lead me, follow me, or get the hell out of my way.”

By the way, the 57-15 demolition that the All Blacks inflicted on the Springboks by running in nine tries was the latter’s heaviest home defeat in the team’s history, dating back to South Africa’s first test on July 30, 1891. South Africa was unable to respond with any tries of their own. The All Blacks were deadly in the second half by scoring seven tries after relentless pressure. The Springboks’ recent string of defeats would, no doubt, lead to South Africa being relegated from its status as a ‘first tier’ rugby nation. Reaction is sure to follow, with calls from various quarters for the rebuilding of the Springbok team, while the Springboks would in reaction reaffirm their commitment to their fans – if they still have such. At the very least, the Springboks might want to redefine their objective. Even though reactive, at least the South African captain intends stepping down, but then only at the end of the 2016 season. Why wait? It would also be nice if he had company.

Seeing Economic Growth Differently?
Could the tide be turning? Could one economic cheerleader be stepping out of sync? A day after last week’s instalment of this column, ‘Financial economists and the cheerleader effect’, was published, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that it had left South Africa’s 2016 gross domestic product growth forecast unchanged at 0.1%, but had reduced its 2017 outlook to 0.8% from 1.0%.

The IMF’s forecasts are less optimistic than those of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), which has adjusted its 2016 forecast upwards. According to the SARB, economic growth would increase on an improvement in global growth, higher net exports on a competitive rand, a recovery in investment and a modest improvement in household spending in coming years. To put the IMF’s South Africa economic growth in perspective, its world economic growth forecast is 3.1% for 2016 and 3.4% for 2017. The lack of South Africa’s economic growth is quite obvious. With South Africa’s forecast economic growth to be derived from variable external factors, one obviously has to question whether Brexit has been taken into consideration.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION