Many of South Africa's recent problems could have been avoided if the country had good leaders, said Russell Loubser, former JSE CEO and South African Airways board member, on Wednesday.

"We have lacked leadership for a long time – decades – in South Africa," he told students at Wits University in Johannesburg.

He referred to the recent wildcat strikes affecting mainly the mining industry and the killing of 46 people in incidents relating to a strike at Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana, Rustenburg.

"Many of these issues and problems could have been avoided if only we had leadership in South Africa."

These problems should not have come as a surprise, he said.

"We have been dropping our standards in South Africa over a long period of time now... there have to be adverse consequences."

He accused South African leaders over the decades of being incapable of recognising or admitting to a crisis.

"Our political leadership... subscribes to the principle that if you don't recognise the problem, well then, there is no problem..."

Loubser asked why no leaders were guiding the African National Congress Youth League members.

"Today's ANC Youth League is not the ANC Youth League of Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Oliver Tambo and the like.

"The ANC Youth League ... today is a disgrace and embarrassment."

It was "a destroyer of confidence".

"You won't hear one idea from the ANC Youth League on how to create wealth, value, but you will hear constantly how to redistribute wealth."

He said axed league leader Julius Malema was a "racist, supremely arrogant, greedy, [with] no real work ethic".

Unlike Malema, most people need to work hard over time to succeed, he said.

Loubser warned that South Africa needed to create confidence.

"This constant emotional and brainless talk about the nationalisation, inter alia, of our mines by people of room-temperature IQ, this destroys confidence."

Labour unions were not helping when they were associated with violent marches during which property was destroyed.

"Long-term confidence, by your local and international community, cannot occur in a climate of corruption, contempt for the law, undermining of the judiciary, violent industrial action, regulatory and tax uncertainty."

Despite the problems, South Africa still had some world-class centres of excellence, such as the SA Reserve Bank, National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service, he said.