Twenty years after our founding democratic elections on April 27, 1994, and our subsequent glorious welcome into the international community of nations, South Africa today stands at a crossroad. While we have made tremendous strides politically and basked in international adulation, economically, we have fared terribly as a country.

Although there are still worrisome incidents of political intolerance in some isolated parts of the country, where some hotheads belonging to one party or organisation deny those who belong to different parties or organisations their rights to free political activity – nevertheless, South Africa has matured politically. However, the cacophony of discordant voices that threaten to drown one another out when it comes to the country’s future direction is deeply worrying, coming as it does at a time when we desperately need consensus on the road ahead.

The apparent growth in left-wing radicalism, with unrealistic promises made by some political opportunists to the indigent masses, is something about which all reasonable South Africans should be deeply concerned. Were this tendency to grow even further in popularity, the political stability that South Africa enjoys at the moment may yet be threatened in the months and years to come.

The answer to our challenges lies in the economy. It is critically important not only that we do everything possible to grow our economy, but also that we ensure that the poor, hopeless majority is drawn into the mainstream of the economy and able to benefit from any growth. We must also wage a relentless war on corruption, which is holding us back as a country.

It is when our attention turns to the parlous state of our economy, and when we consider the continued short-sighted posturing of some of the important stakeholders, that our collective hearts bleed. Ours is a country with so much potential, and yet year after year it has performed poorly when it comes to the much-needed economic growth. Sadly, this will continue to be the case until government and labour accept business as a vital partner necessary for economic growth, and not as an enemy.

For as long as that critical partnership between the government, business and labour is weak or lacking, that long will our economy continue to underperform, at a time when other countries on the continent are growing, with Nigeria said to have overtaken South Africa as the largest economy in Africa. Government has made an impressive start with the National Development Plan, and now it remains to be seen if that plan will be implemented with the vigour that it requires, with the three major stakeholders – government, business and labour – working closely together.