The vast majority of South Africans are having it tough. Unemployment. Power cuts. Water supply interruptions. Crime. And, making everything worse, Covid-19. Hope is key to bringing change, but hope is a scarce resource these days in Mzansi.
Does it have to be this way? Can we only wait for things to get better?
No! Here are 4 realistic ideas that will immediately make life in South Africa better!
1. Allowing medical aids and large businesses to buy and distribute Covid-19 vaccines to clients and employees
If you are in a group of 60 people and you're all hungry, does it make sense to allow only one person to use their money and initiative to go and buy food? Of course it doesn't. If there's a problem and many people can help solve it, only really stupid or really cruel people will insist on making the solution the responsibility of only one person.
Yet, this is exactly what is happening in South Africa with Covid-19 vaccines. Except that we’re not dealing with a group of 60, but 60 000 000.
South Africa's government has actively made it almost impossible for anyone but the government to buy the vaccines we need. This has created a completely unnecessary bottleneck, causing South Africa to have one of the slowest vaccine rollouts in the world. We're even behind countries like Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.
This simply is not working and can immediately be changed. Allow people and companies who want to use their own money to buy vaccines. Not only will this speed up the efforts to get South Africa back on its feet, but it'll make sure that the government can focus on using taxpayer money to help the people who cannot afford their own vaccines.
The government’s current approach is slow, riddled with even more opportunities for massive corruption, and forces the poorest taxpayers to help pay for the vaccines of people who can afford it.
2. Cutting the cost of doing business and creating jobs by cutting the cost of employing people
So many things are making it more difficult and expensive to run a business - especially small and medium businesses. Not only is this making it more likely that businesses will close down and cause preventable job losses, it's also making the products and services of these businesses more expensive for people who want to buy them.
Compulsory minimum wage laws are keeping people looking for jobs out of work and keeping businesses looking for employees understaffed. If a potential employee is happy to work for a business for a bit less than the minimum wage, why is government insisting on making it more expensive to hire that person? A simple solution is to have an opt-out option for people who want to have a job and an income, rather than no job and no income.
This opt-out can immediately make a difference and, in an instant, help both businesses and people struggling to make ends meet.
3. Scrapping policy plans that are making people scared to invest in South Africa
Would you put your money into an account at a bank if the bank said they were busy creating a policy that would let them take your money and give you nothing back? Or would you park your car in a building with a banner over the entrance saying "If you park here, management might take your car and give it to someone else!"?
I'm guessing the answer is 'no'.
But, with the ANC and the EFF bent on changing the Bill of Rights to end secure property rights, that's what's happening to South Africa's economy.
People across the world are looking for places where they can invest their savings, perhaps get a few businesses going that can become profitable and make those savings more. They're looking at countries like Botswana, Mauritius, Rwanda, Nigeria, India - they're not looking at South Africa.
Why?
Well, there's a banner over the whole country saying "If you park your assets or money here, management might take your stuff and give it to someone else!"
If we can rip down this banner, stop the craziness of saying people aren't allowed to own their own stuff, abandon the proposed changes to the Bill of Rights, we can immediately see people investing again in South Africa. New businesses. New jobs. New opportunities.
4. Scrapping policies that are keeping the poor poor, but making the rich richer
We all have that friend - the one with ideas that sound good, sound like they might have awesome results, but that actually suck.
Yeah, let's talk about BEE - supposed to stand for 'black economic empowerment', but actually stands for 'blatant elite enrichment'.
BEE became government policy in 2005. To many people it sounded good and the people promoting it said the results would be awesome. Well, has unemployment gotten better or worse since the idea of BEE became policy? The data is absolutely crystal clear: worse. And unemployment for black people? You guessed it: worse.
What have actually been the results of BEE? I'll say it again: blatant elite enrichment. Don't believe me? Shall we talk Zondo Commission, Covid-19 tenders, or the number of millionaires and even billionaires with a handy connection to the ANC government?
There's simply no two ways about it: the vast majority of people who were made poor by apartheid are kept poor by policies like BEE. Our president is a billionaire, but our people are suffering. Go figure.
BEE can be stopped immediately and replaced with a policy that actually works to make life in South Africa better for everyone but especially the people struggling to make ends meet: Non-racial Economic Empowerment for the Disadvantaged (NEED).
[Learn more about NEED in our explainer video (hyperlink to this https://youtu.be/Zh1HdHNbwwg)]
And there you have it: 4 realistic ideas that will make South Africa better IMMEDIATELY. Ideas can change the world. Some ideas take time, but some ideas are ready to make a difference now.
