The national dialogue announced recently by President Cyril Ramaphosa is a waste of time and money. It will achieve nothing — nada, zilch, lutho, letho, niks, nichts, niente, rien, zero.
It is a waste of time and money because despite substantial resources handed over to successive ANC governments, they have failed — and I’m being generous here — to spend these resources judiciously. Here’s an example.
In 2022/23 South Africans (individuals and corporates) gave, willingly or not, about R2.4-trillion (in taxes, property rates, payments for electricity and water) to the three spheres of government (municipalities, provincial and national governments). That amount includes what national government borrowed from the financial markets, which is money that must be repaid from future tax revenues.
The R2.4-trillion is about 36% of the country’s economic output as measured by GDP (2022/23). Another sobering way of looking at it is to assume an average of R2-trillion being handed over to the state every year since 2018 — the year Ramaphosa took over. That’s more than R12-trillion.
These are substantial resources. Had they been used judiciously they would have made a big difference to the lives of poor South Africans. But they weren’t. And that’s been a recurring problem.
It continues. So much so that Ramaphosa should really be appointing a commission of inquiry into the theft of the flood relief funds for the people of Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. If it weren’t for the constitution one would also call on the SA Police Service to lock up all Eastern Cape politicians and civil servants until the flood relief funds have been fully spent. Or simple hand over all the flood relief money to Gift of the Givers.
As the state has failed to use the substantial resources handed over to it, South Africans with the financial means (including the capacity to borrow from banks) have increasingly been turning to the private sector or self-provision. They are spending hundreds of billions of rand buying healthcare, education and security from the private sector. Since “load-shedding” power cuts became a regular feature of our lives they have spent hundreds of millions of rand installing alternative energy sources. As municipalities have failed to guarantee reliable supplies of clean water and treat sewage, the private sector is moving in.
In addition, every private sector initiative, such as the Business Trust, to help buttress state capacity has ended in failure. Not because there was anything wrong with the initiatives, but simply because the state lacked the appetite to take advantage of what was offered. The effect of state failure and people increasingly turning to the private sector to buy what should be public services funded by taxes is to widen the socioeconomic gap. Getting together to talk about nation building will do nothing to close this gap.
It’s been known since 1994, if not before, that SA would not have the resources to address the damage caused by decades of colonial rule and apartheid all at once. That’s why Justice Ismail Mahomed said in a Constitutional Court judgment in July 1996 that the resources of the state must be “deployed imaginatively, wisely, efficiently and equitably, to facilitate the reconstruction process in a manner that best brings relief and hope to the widest sections of the community”.
Ramaphosa says we need a dialogue “to direct all our efforts to build a thriving, inclusive economy that creates jobs and opportunities”. No. What’s required is for government to use the resources South Africans hand over to it imaginatively, wisely, efficiently and equitably. That’s doesn’t need more dialogue.
• Sikhakhane, a former spokesperson for the finance minister, National Treasury and SA Reserve Bank, is editor of The Conversation Africa. He writes in his personal capacity.
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