Mr Chair

I wish to start off by quoting from today’s Business Day editorial, a view supported by many independent thinkers in this country. The source of this thinking is our Auditor-General:
“A picture is emerging of a public administration that is in a state of collapse across great swathes of the country and – even worse – of a political leadership that is so occupied with securing its own position and access to state resources that is either deaf to the warnings or indifferent to the consequences of failing to act”.

Add to this mix the fact that unemployment has grown from 23.9% to 25.2% in the first quarter, that the Public Protector has warned that we are now reaching a tipping point with corruption now viewed as endemic to both public and private sectors, threatening to distort the economy and derail democracy, then a dark picture of our economic and socio-political future emerges.

Minister, this analysis is of utmost importance for you and your department. You might be one of the few ones left who can still assist to turn this dire process around.

‘n Gemeenskap en sy ekonomie word gebou rondom mense. Dit spreek vanself, maar dis ‘n waarheid wat ons soms opoffer ter wille van grandiose programme wat nie werk nie en wat net in die wêreld van die akademie waarde het. Mense skep ‘n goeie of slegte ekonomie aan die hand van die waarde en uitsette wat hulle lewer, dit wil se kwaliteit en produktiwiteit. Dit op sy beurt kan weer net gedoen word indien die beste mense sonder aansien van persoon aangestel word en hulle ‘n werks-etos toepas wat beter is as die ander mededingende ekonomiee.

In South Africa, we are consistently faced with a lagging economy, poor service delivery and corruption mainly due to internal restraints, of which labour is one contributing factor. Minister, this is where you and department becomes very important. For your regulation of the labour market will and does have an overall effect on the economy of this country, which in turns affects tax revenues and spending on programs of development.

It is a fact that many well-trained people, who could oil the machinery of this country’s economy, are being kept out of the system purely based on race, some on a de jure-basis like white males and some on a de facto-basis like the Coloured community. Many of them stay unemployed or emigrate if they can. Now, consider the energy that would be released if they are somehow fed back into the system to assist in growing the economy?

Minister, it is also true that the black component of the middle class is now larger than the white population. But the white and Coloured component is not growing due to interventionist policies like affirmative action that only looks at the colour of the skin. Has the time not arrived to start looking at socio-economic criteria instead of race? For if we continue to build an economy on race alone, we will very soon pay the price of the tragedy that has befallen Greece: an economy built on state employment with very little productivity in the public and private sector. This is also called a Ponzi scheme.

The answer to this is to ensure that merit plays the prime role in appointments, and that socio-economic circumstances be taken into account, but not race. This will ensure that fit and proper persons are appointed that will lead to the emergence of a growing economy with more jobs. The alternative is stagnation and eventual decline.

Daarom versoek ons die daarstelling van ‘n Gelykheidskantoor vir Minderhede waardeur nie-aangewese persone aangestel kan word in poste waar kritieke tekorte bestaan. Such an Equity Office for Minorities can ensure that those pushed out by affirmative action, but who can add critical value to the economy, can be reintroduced into the system. This will ensure true equity that works both ways and creates a win-win solution in the end.

Dankie Voorsitter