The ANC Theory of Economic Development

During a whitewashing session for the Minister of Social Development, a major question that has puzzled many was answered.

As an aside, during the session on SABC TV, Dlamini stated that ‘the Constitutional Court Judges are people; they also read newspapers and watch television, so they gain incorrect understandings of what has happened regarding the payment of social grants.” That extreme insult to the Judges of the Constitutional Court, who each have more intelligence than the entire Cabinet of the President, and more integrity in their fingernails than the entire leadership of the ANC, was accepted unquestioningly by the sycophantic Peter Ndoro, who enthusiastically nodded his agreement of every word uttered by the criminally-convicted and Constitutionally-sanctioned Minister.

To return to the new understanding.

One of the speakers, justifying the policy of wealth redistribution, explained that poor people don’t have much to spend. By redistributing the wealth of wealthy people, who would otherwise simply spend it on the imported goods they favour, the poor people are given the means to spend on goods they need, so creating economic activity.

That remarkable explanation ignores a number of important things. The first is that wealthy people use their wealth, at least a considerable portion of it, to create the economic activity the country needs, the mines, factories and other businesses, as well as providing the finance needed for research and development, of goods and ideas, that would otherwise have to be sourced from abroad. Without that wealth, there would be no jobs, and so no way for the poor to earn the income to spend on ‘what they need’. Experience worldwide (yes, my own experience – I have earned a living for many years by generating new businesses for ex-employees of my management consultancy clients, who were displaced as a result of making the client’s businesses more efficient. Every one of those new businesses remained in businesses for at least three years, and many of them have become management consultancy clients.) has shown me that the average investment required for the creating of new jobs is around US$250 000, in addition to the requirement that the employees in those new jobs need a good education (an important disqualifier for most South Africans, as a result of the ANC-inspired sausage-factory education system producing an education standard ranking 183 of 185 countries) and years of relevant on-the-job experience, under the tutelage of an experienced manager (also precluded under the BEE system, which views skin colour as a suitable replacement for experience, resulting in a downgrading of the capability of South African businesses). This must not be seen as a criticism of Black South Africans. In my experience, a black South African has the personal qualities and mental capabilities to be the equal of a White South African, or of the citizens of any other country. What they lack is a decent education and suitable experience. This would be assisted by them having enjoyed exposure to a culture that values reading and understanding, questioning and critical discussion – as the President has often demonstrated, a background as a herd boy provides a very poor foundation for understanding how the world works. That background can be supplemented by reading and discussion, and by relevant (not political brainwashing) education that opens the world to the mind, and the mind to the world.

The Minister repeated the same public relations line that is taken by so many others who do not wish to expose their failings, saying that there are many accountants and lawyers who cannot find work, without going to the obvious next step of asking why. They cannot find work because their qualifications are inferior – a degreed South African of any colour who seeks work in the UK, the US or Europe is now not really sought after, unless their work experience demonstrates clearly that their work ethic puts them on a higher plane of capability, in contrast to those with a pre-ANC education, who could take virtually any relevant position in those countries without effort. Don’t forget that the Law Society published a report some years ago that the average Ll B graduate now is incapable of using language effectively! A client who employed a newly-graduated M Sc in chemistry (White) found that he had no knowledge or understanding of some basic chemical reactions! A university lecturer in engineering resigned because the instruction that he ensured that a certain proportion of Black students passed his course, in order to fulfill quota requirements, was not acceptable to him. He commented “Imagine using a bridge designed by a civil engineer who was required to achieve a 40% pass in mathematics!”

South Africans are capable and willing; they need a government that understands some of the basic rules of economics, and that demands that they perform to the highest standards. They need teachers who know their subjects and are willing to put in the effort and the time to ensure that their pupils achieve what they are capable of doing. And, most of all, they need to understand that by working to a belief that all people are equal and that they must all be entitled to share in what they don’t produce is a certain recipe for mediocrity.