ARE WE READY FOR RADICAL ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION?
I am not a professional Politician. I try to steer clear of making semi informed analysis of such. I also acknowledge that I may be totally off course when it comes to certain things.
However on the 9th November, whilst watching Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma (NDZ) being interviewed on her campaign “Radical Economic Transformation: Now or Never”!, I couldn't help but wonder as to are we as a Black South African Nation ready for this revolution? The statistics that were mentioned regarding people living in poverty in relation to those who own the wealth of our country are scary, to say the least. We all acknowledge that we are sitting on a time bomb. Something needs to happen soon.
However, my question remains; If we were to wake up tomorrow and find that we have been empowered to own and actively participate in the economy, do we have the mindset and the skills to make it successful. Have we been enabled to take advantage of all the opportunities that will be presented to us? The challenge with most policies is that they empower but fail to enable people.
I liked her thinking regarding a skills revolution through education.
I know that most of the people who are going to read this post are educated and are probably ready for this RET revolution. Can we say the same about the majority of our people?
On Sunday morning, the 5th November whilst running the Soweto marathon I saw a lot of young men standing on the streets drinking beer. Most of them were intoxicated. When I go home in Limpopo, I see a similar thing playing itself in front of me.
Not to sound judgmental or think that I am better off, but do u honestly think some of the youth in the townships are ready for RET? Or is it meant for the select few? Will we all benefit from it, or only the Black middle class?
The ongoing narrative in different circles is that if you give a Black South African land, they are going to build flats or back rooms to hire them off to immigrants. But if you were to give land to another Black person from other parts of Africa, they will turn it into a farm and produce food for many. Now I am not saying it's right or wrong, I am only saying let's introspect.
If we want ALL of us to benefit, the question is what are we doing to prepare ourselves and others? It would be a shame if we were to be given land, have economic policies and systems changed to our benefit but still unable to create wealth for ourselves and posterity.
We may not all be professional Politicians and shout about these policies. But we can play our part in the politics of our country by challenging each other's mindset and supporting each other to go through a skills and human consciousness revolution. Let them go ahead and promote the "What", whilst we focus on the "why" and "how".
Maybe it's time that we asked ourselves these pertinent questions; desist from being sentimental and emotional. Let us be honest with ourselves. ARE WE READY FOR RET? Maybe the right questions to ask are:
“What are we doing in our small corners, families and communities to ensure that all of us are ready for RET?
What kind of personal revolution or transformation are we going through to ready ourselves for the Economic Transformation?
What kind of mindset must we all have to succeed?
If you are already in business, what are the skills, systems, processes and structures that you need to put in place to ensure that you take full advantage of the impending revolution?
What kind of action plans must we put in place?
It will be quite a shame if the RET comes to find people in the old mindset of being imprisoned in a poverty mentality.
