Pandemic must push SA towards transformative constitutionalism

Ratings agencies Fitch and Moody’s recently downgraded SA’s sovereign credit and undoubtedly this will have far reaching negative consequences for our economy.

The downgrades come  in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic which has forced the government to impose a national lockdown.

The lockdown has exposed the level of inequalities in our country as the poor are disproportionately affected.

The contemporary situation gives us an opportunity to fundamentally change the status quo and to advance towards transformative constitutionalism.

Sony Renee Taylor earlier in April told the world: “We will not go back to normal. Normal never was. Our pre-corona existence was not normal other than we normalised greed, inequality, exhaustion, depletion, extraction, disconnection, confusion, rage, hoarding, hate and lack ... We are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment. One that fits all of humanity and nature.”

The past is now in the process of being erased and we cannot be tragically bound to it, while history is being rewritten.

As we go back to the drawing board in reconstructing (rebuilding) and restructuring (reforming) our future, as Dr Martin Luther King says, we must do so with “audacious faith”, determination and a “powerful moral force”.

We must never again allow an antithetical view that if we change the course of our future in harmony with this nation’s constitutional imperatives and tenets, investors will leave or that our economy will suffer.

For now we are drowning and we have nothing to lose, a scenario that presents us with an opportunity to make radical decisions which will benefit us all on the other side.

President Cyril Ramaphosa and his team must use every instrument in their toolbox as they tackle the complex and difficult task at hand.

We, however, must be inspired by the spirit and resilience of our late statesman Nelson Mandela, who in one of his famous quotes said: “I learnt that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.”

The basis for reforms and rebuilding our economy must be based on the theme of transformative constitutionalism.

The latter is firmly rooted in social justice and fundamental human rights as enshrined in our constitution.

In an effort to address the challenges outlined above, I propose the following fundamental changes that will advance our constitutional values:

• There must be a deliberate move to have a state-led economy that will drive and influence an economic agenda on an unprecedented bigger scale that must extend even outside SA’s borders;
• At microeconomic level, the government must invest in micro-industries that will manufacture products consumed in state institutions such as correctional centres and hospitals;
• At macroeconomic level, the government must be involved in mega-industries that have the potential to increase its revenue. China has showed us the way with its Huawei products;
• There must be no political influence over all public entities with effective oversight by the cabinet on quarterly basis. It can’t be business as usual;
• The country must have a robust state machinery and an aggressive approach with consequence management embedded in the system, in fighting the rampant corruption that has engulfed our country, to sustain our democracy and build trust and confidence in our society;
• All public institutions must have proactive and effective risk management systems,  rather than reactive strategies as done after the release of the auditor-general’s reports;
• SA must come to grips with the realities of economic meltdown and that it can no longer share its resources with the outside world for free. The informal economy must be protected and be reserved for SA citizens.
• Our journey is going to be long and painful, but we must be determined to build a brighter future for all.

Vuyo Booysen is an advocate and senior lecturer at the University of Fort Hare. He writes in his personal capacity.