Focus on economy rather than politics to help South Africa grow

The one thing that brings nations into a common pursuit is their economy. For all the other commonalities such as language, culture, history, and territory, associated with nationhood, the economy remains the most suitable for common participation by all citizens.

Considering our history and the exclusionary policies of colonial and apartheid regimes, it may seem possible for people to be excluded from the economy of their country. Yet this is not entirely true.

While it may be possible to exclude people from the mainstream economy, it is not possible to exclude them from the economy itself. As a result of this, all citizens contribute to the economy of their nation in one way or another.

What differs though is the nature of the contribution made by different citizens towards their economy. Sometimes this contribution is detrimental to the overall health of the economy; sometimes it assists the economy. This may be the case whether one is involved in the formal or informal aspects of the economy.

A mistake that is often made is to measure the economic value of this contribution only in monetary terms. However, such a measure does not indicate whether the contribution itself assists or inhibits the economy.

Take, for instance, the short-term pursuit of profits, which creates an atmosphere that encourages the rapid deterioration of the natural environment. This means a heavy cost is incurred by the entire economy in the pursuit of rapid profits by a few, usually big participants, in the economy.

It is possible that such economic players are able to make vast amounts of money, perhaps even employing huge numbers of citizens. Yet when the overall contribution is weighed, the overall cost to the entire economy, which includes the environment, creates a huge liability.

Similarly other players such as trade unions, for instance, may contribute by organising labour. Yet if their attitude towards engagement is confrontational in nature, their overall contribution may be found to cost the economy in lost production, lost wages, lost jobs or lost business confidence.

The state may find itself misdirected by the political ideologies of whatever political party or regime is at the helm. In the end, all these players can affect the economy positively or negatively, depending on how they understand and shape their contribution.

Considering how central the economy is to the life of a nation and how each citizen plays an important part whether big or small, negative or positive, it seems necessary to make the economy an area of sustained national focus. This is particularly true for developing countries where economic development is a matter of survival.

The economy forms the foundation upon which other components of society can be built. It requires social interaction, skills and competence, a language and a culture that is conducive for a growing nation. However, this is only if we pay enough attention and possess enough appreciation for what the economy is and can be.

The inordinate attention given to politics in SA and most African countries has robbed us of this necessary focus on the economy. This is painfully demonstrated by the little knowledge we have accumulated as a nation over the past 25 years about our own economy.

There is such a depth of ignorance even among leaders about how modern economies work that some of these “leaders” can joke about picking up our “fallen currency” off the ground. I suppose with gifts falling from the sky in cars, groceries, parties, and booze, economic literacy becomes irrelevant for these “leaders”.

As a result, all we seem to know is the loudest and emptiest form of politics. This is the kind of contribution which is detrimental to our economy. When weighed in totality, the cost of this form of politics to our economy measure in the trillions, in corruption, high crime rates, spilt blood, and in overwhelming poverty.

Professor Tshilidzi Marwala refers to politicism as the “concept of politics dominating all spheres of our lives” in an article published in the Sunday Times this past weekend. He points out the danger of depending on the skills of political leadership for our future, considering how one-dimensional political leadership is.

This is at a time when we need as much leadership diversity as possible to navigate the complex environments the modern world presents.

The economy of the country provides just such a canvas for economic interaction which involves all the diverse economic players in our society.