Response by Deputy Minister Buti Manamela at the Youth Dialogue on Inequality with Professor Thomas Piketty, University of Johannesburg
Let me firstly welcome Professor Thomas Piketty to South African soil. As it happened around the world, and certainly here in South Africa, your book Capital in the 21st Century has created a buzz. Critics and complimentors agree that your book raises pivotal issues for the world and for our country, South Africa. And now you are standing on our soil, in person. We are indeed privileged to have you here and thank those who ensured that this event happens.
You are well aware that South Africa faces the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality. It is painful to note that in our country, poverty and inherently inequality are human made, especially for the majority of our people.
For Blacks in general, and Africans in particular, poverty draws its origins from structural edifices of our painful past that should not be allowed to seek refuge in the shadows of silence.
Policies of both colonial and apartheid minority regimes have resulted in terrible human consequences that will take time and generational efforts to redress.
Poverty and inequality are at the heart of the priorities set by National Development Plan (NDP). The NDP seeks to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030 through uniting South Africans, unleashing the energies of our citizens, growing an inclusive economy, building capabilities, enhancing the capability of the state and leaders working together to solve complex problems of our society. It is through this initiative that as we build a non-racist, non-sexist democratic society, we can achieve a better life for all. The NDP does, however, lament that too many people are trapped in poverty, we remain a highly unequal society and that too few South Africans work.
We cannot deal with inequality if we do not deal with the peculiar and unique character of the South African economy and society. These peculiar and unique characters are based on the historical factors that dominated the capitalist development path of our country. Many young people are told that they must pick themselves from poverty, inequality and unemployment just as the other winners have done so.
They are told that the power is in their hands. But they cannot do so when opportunities that are available are unofficially reserved for the few, with one or two amongst them picked as winners to demonstrate to the rest that it can be done.
We cannot tell them to work hard, when others have a big fat check waiting for them in the form of inheritances and yet tell others that they are lazy and stupid when they never have to work a single day for this.
We should never again be told that we should forget about the historical injustices that have led to our social, wealth, income and human capital inequalities by people who are not willing to forgo the inheritances that their ancestors acquired from that illegal system.
Just as the scars of my ancestors—inflicted by colonialism—are imprinted as my birthmark, others have no right to tell me to forget these scars when they are reaping the fruits inherited from the very same system.
It is by no accident that wealth, income and human capital inequality have a predominantly racial and gender bias with black people being at the lower rungs of the ladder whilst white people are in the upper rung.
Many who are currently advantaged argued vigorously for a limited or no role of the state in the economy. However it was the same authoritarian nature of the apartheid state that led to their possession of the most arable land, that led to their easy access to business funding, that lead to their acquisition of property and thus many of them wish that PW Botha should come back. It is for this reason that they have a continued monopoly in finance, mining and agricultural economy.
In his book, the The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, David Landes writes: "The peasant Ivan is jealous of his neighbour Boris, because Boris has a goat. A fairy comes along and offers Ivan a single wish. What does he wish for? That Boris's goat should drop dead.”
But we are not vindictive like Boris. Our struggle has never been about killing the goat or wishing that the goat will drop dead.
Our struggle has been and still is guided by the Freedom Charter:
- South Africa belongs to all who live in it
- The people shall share in the wealth of the country
- The land shall be shared among those who work in it
- There shall be houses, security and comfort for all
- There shall be work and security for all
- There shall be peace and friendship
Through guided policy interventions, is it not time that we began to radically reverse the legacy not only of apartheid, but also of the concessions and consensus reached at the negotiations table at CODESA? Is it not time that the sun finally sets on the sunset clauses in all its implications.
Our generation, black and white, should set aside the vestiges that weigh heavily on our future as a country and begin to look into new forms of engagements that will ultimately define a South Africa for all of us. As young people, we own this future together and should therefore share in its wealth and prosperity.
Our generation remains, thankful for the efforts made by Nelson Mandela and his leadership collective for securing basic political rights and setting up the institutions supporting democracy. For this we will always be grateful and mindful of the difficult constraints that our leaders faced to chose a peaceful transition into democracy as opposed to a bloody take-over.
However, we should begin to ask the hard questions about the development path that we chose and to some extents are still pursuing. Is it inclusive?
We had hoped, armed with patience, that the fruits of such engagements will trickle down from Sandton to Alexandra, from Camps Bay to Gugulethu, from Umhlanga Rocks to Umlazi and from Pretoria to Mamelodi.
This has not happened. This may never happen. Since our appeal to the benevolence of white monopoly capital has fallen on deaf ears. What do we do? We have to rely on the authority of the state and its policy machinery to radically redistribute wealth and importantly finally bring equality.
We must introduce a national minimum wage for workers. We must strengthen welfare for the poor, old and destitute. We must curb the runaway higher wages and share-options of the already obscenely rich CEO's in favour of increased wages for the working poor.
The wealth of the few is consistently circulating amongst themselves and invested in their rich schools and private healthcare centres whilst the poor and marginalised are consistently wrestling amongst themselves for the depleting bread crumbs and therefore sustaining apartheid patterns of development.
Perhaps the most apt questions that we should be debating as the current generation should be: Is it not time that we increase taxes for the high income earners and the wealthy?
Is it not time that we expand shareholding in monopolies to include workers and poor communities where the mineral resources are extracted instead of these resources being used to finance capitalist decadence in the US and Europe through illicit capital outflows and transfer pricing as has been the case within the mining industries?
Yes we should fight against corruption, both in government and in the private sector. This is a big fight. But I call on all young people, our generation, to remember that an even bigger fight awaits us in the stock exchange where the wealthy reside in comfort and are perpetuating this scourge of inequality.
If we do not rely on the authority of the state to boldly, radically and swiftly act in the interest of the poor of the country, we will unfortunately witness the wrath that the apartheid elite faced by young people, this time, the canon will fire facing the direction of the stock exchanges.
And when that happens, wealth will not trickle down, but will be blown away so that we truly all start afresh.
May we not live to see that day, for if it happens, it will be apocalyptic not only for the Union Buildings, but also for the wealthiest square mile on this continent, Sandton.
To wrap up:
- As young people , we must make education and health policies work
- We must support initiative towards a national minimum wage or a living wage
- We must explore huge taxes on property, wealth and have ceilings on inheritances
- We must demonstrate commitment to some form of continued public employment as envisaged in the National Growth Path
I thank you.
