The future of South Africa?

[twinscythe12332]

I guess if you keep everyone stuck at one level, they'll be more controllable... Once you know how to swing one person's mind, the sheep like him will be just as easily swayed.
The ANC has been making promises by the boat-load... and we've all heard how they don't live up to it. So does that mean the other parties are making promises that are too realistic?

[murdock]

and all tax money seems to be wasted on...is fraud and corrution investigation...or setting up some form of investigation.

[MGM]

I think the opposition, especially the DA, is making huge inroads into the so-called "illiterate" communities. Remember, the illiterate community is there because of apartheid, initially. But 18 years down the line, no change-for-the-better has taken place. It actually got worse, in living standards, for the poor and even the so-called "middle class" community.

We are not even half-way through this economic tsunami. Things are going to get tougher, and I think the so-called illiterate and middle class communities needs to take decisive action to stop the plundering of our assets by so-called "leaders". Once the so-called "illiterate" is liberated, we will either have a civil war or a democratic election, depends on the illiterate.

[Blurock]

Remember, the illiterate community is there because of apartheid, initially. But 18 years down the line, no change-for-the-better has taken place. It actually got worse, in living standards, for the poor and even the so-called "middle class" community.

I have to disagree. The illiterate community is there because the cadres decided on "no education before liberation". Nobody can force you to learn if you do not want to.

The illiterate obviously does not have the same access to information such as in newspapers, books, news bulletins and other sources as the literate. They also do not have the same opportunities as the literate and educated and are therefore more succeptable to indoctrination and intimidation.

The illiterate should study what happened in other communities that overcame diversity by hard work and learning. The Indian community find themselves at the top of the management chain and have educated as lawyers, doctors and astute business people. This after they came to these shores as indentured labourers with no future.

The Afrikaner community was devastated after the Boer war. The British army's scorched earth policy forced them off their farms to find work on the mines. The Great Depression and the "poor white" issue is well documented. These same people started Iscor, Eskom, FVB, KWV, the Rembrand group and others. They started co-ops to assist farmers to sell their produce. Education was important and was the key to job creation.

Our immigrant communities of Etiopians, Zimbabwians, Greeks, Portugese and Congolese are setting up shops and starting businesses from virtually nothing. They are sometimes forced to start over because locals burn down their businesses out of spite or genocide. They don't give up, but start over.

What is wrong with our people? Why do we grow up as beggars, thinking the world owes us a living? Have we no pride? Why do foreigners have to come here to show us how things should be done?

[murdock]

and the reality is...people would rather employ these people coming in from other countries...because they are prepared to WORK for a wage..

[Dave A]

What is wrong with our people? Why do we grow up as beggars, thinking the world owes us a living? Have we no pride? Why do foreigners have to come here to show us how things should be done?

I would love to hear thoughts on that particular mindset challenge.

One of the things that strikes me - is it really unique? Genuine entrepreneurs have always been a minority in any society.
The second thing to point out is immigrants tend to be more entrepreneurial than average anyway. Which isn't really surprising - the mere act of picking up and moving to a different country is in itself pretty adventurous.

[desA]

"Who rules South Africa? - Pulling the strings in the battle for power", Martin Plaut & Paul Holden, Jonathan Ball Publishers, 2012.

Available in CNA & most bookstores.

I'm in the early stages of the book, & already a fairly clear picture is emerging of the chaos around us. An excellent, although detailed, read.

To my perhaps simplistic mind, a civil war, or corrective coup, may be some of the ways forwards towards ridding SA of this scourge. Would that a decent, honest government step up to the plate & fulfill the dreams of SA's people. The post 1994 experiment with Democracy (African Socialism) has been a dismal failure.

[murdock]

if you keep giving...people will take...and when you change what you have been doing all along...how can you expect people to change their mindset...

when i grew up...i wanted something...i wash cars...deliver newspapers...pack bags at the supermarket...my kids on the other hand...want something...my ex wife has taught them to just put out their hand and expect...so when my daughter comes to me with a list of all the outstanding pocket money "i owe her" i ask her what she has done for me to deserve the pocket money...she tells me it is "her right" ...so you know what i told her....i phone her the other at 10 am...to ask her what she is doing about finding a job...she is still in bed sleeping...but i must still pay maintenance...yeah right.

my point is you give give give...dont expect them to work for stuff...lots of fathers/parents who have had it tough are guilty of giving their kids too much (because they battled when they were young and dont want their kids to battle) create the lazy monster they turn into...a little hard work never killed anyone..

like this incident where they were considering a R20 levy that everyone had to pay for services...it was thown out.

[Blurock]

I agree with Murdock. Our work ethic is very low. It starts with discipline. There can be no love without discipline. Teach your kids when they are young. Don't wait until they leave school and then try to change their ways.

I have recently fired a client due to potential reputation risk. These guys were too lazy to work. They did not even make their own phone calls. Someone else had to make the call and then hand them the phone while the person on the other side was waiting. They more than often pitched up for work at 9 or 10 am while the staff had to let themselves in at 7am.