Political economist and author Moeletsi Mbeki says South Africa is experiencing a silent civil war caused by the faltering economy.
Speaking at the launch on Wednesday of his latest book‚ A Manifesto for Social Change: How to Save South Africa‚ Moeletsi said things could get worse if the country does not move to full industrialisation.
“We already have what we call a hidden civil war in South Africa. South Africa has the highest murder rate in the world for a country which is not at war. About 18 000 people are murdered every year in this country ... this is a huge problem‚ every year we have these mass murders‚” he says.
He added that: “On the other side we have a production economic system that‚ for the last 350 or so years‚ has really been driven by use of force against workers‚ against producers. We saw the most dramatic example at Marikana .”
The author says the only way to deal with these problems is to build industries in the cities and rural areas
Moeletsi added that the government will have to cut public servants salary bill and redirect the money to investment.
“We are one country in the world where the civil servants earn more money than people in the private sector. This is a huge distortion that we have to do away with.” – Tiso Black Star Group Digital
Only industry will help fightSouth Africa’s hidden war‚ says author
Speaking at the launch on Wednesday of his latest book‚ A Manifesto for Social Change: How to Save South Africa‚ Moeletsi said things could get worse if the country does not move to full industrialisation.
“We already have what we call a hidden civil war in South Africa. South Africa has the highest murder rate in the world for a country which is not at war. About 18 000 people are murdered every year in this country ... this is a huge problem‚ every year we have these mass murders‚” he says.
He added that: “On the other side we have a production economic system that‚ for the last 350 or so years‚ has really been driven by use of force against workers‚ against producers. We saw the most dramatic example at Marikana .”
The author says the only way to deal with these problems is to build industries in the cities and rural areas
Moeletsi added that the government will have to cut public servants salary bill and redirect the money to investment.
“We are one country in the world where the civil servants earn more money than people in the private sector. This is a huge distortion that we have to do away with.” – Tiso Black Star Group Digital
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