South Africa’s continued insistence on implementing race-based policies which have been shown to fail ordinary people, will help ensure the country will not emerge from economic crisis.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has made it clear BEE will be the primary driving force in how we tackle the economic maladies we face. The president announced a Tourism Equity Fund to “drive transformation in the tourism sector”. Of course, inclusivity in all our economic sectors is important, but achieving inclusivity will be far better served by emphasising job creation.
Tourism is labour intensive and is one of the only sectors to have grown jobs over the past few years of economic stagnation. It is also one of the only sectors to have grown consistently and at a higher rate than the broader economy. It must be a key anchor in South Africa’s economic recovery, but focusing on “transformation” will not result in this.
BEE has failed to benefit ordinary South Africans, which is reflected in our stubbornly high rates of poverty and unemployment.
The government must reject failed race-based ideology and focus on helping poor South Africans, whatever their race.
By Marius Roodt from the Institute of Race Relations.
The Star