A SECOND LOOK
Brian Ndoda Biyela
Anthony Holiday’s perplexing article in the Mail & Guardian last week reveals how he fails to discern President Thabo Mbeki’s shrewd leadership of the government. Mbeki’s call is bigger and more noble than just pleasing the new black elite and their counterparts from Houghton and Constantia.
When black arrivistes join in branding Mbeki as unfit to govern, they do nothing but indulge in ignorant and selfish verbal assaults.
I regard the elite’s viewpoints as a manifestation of their lack of understanding of the scope of challenges that the government faces.
South Africans must stop passing judgement on Mbeki and do our part to make his task of attaining a better life for all easier.
Many fail to see the government’s achievements because they take them for granted. For millions of people, provision of electricity, access to water and telecommunications, building of schools and many other things are important benefits that the new government has introduced. Those keen on blame-slinging have always had access to these basic necessities.
However, the issue of currency depreciation is a valid cause for concern, but Mbeki’s action and inaction on Zimbabwe is neither a sole determinant of the currency’s strength nor an important one.
Mbeki has no executive powers to control the political processes in Zimbabwe. Openly lambasting President Robert Mugabe would do little to bring about stability in Zimbabwe, nor will it lead to a permanent firming of the rand’s position in the international financial markets.
The solutions to Zimbabwe’s problems must be sought by Zimbabweans themselves. South Africa cannot impose policy agendas on a sovereign state it can only help and offer advice, not prescriptions.
The global economy is in a slowdown and our currency has taken a hit, but we have institutions that deal with the problem and we should allow them to do that. At this stage the Reserve Bank has done well in conducting our monetary policy and we have a healthy macroeconomic policy.
Making South Africa work is our task as the citizens of this country and not that of international investors. Investors will only invest in our country if we invest in it ourselves, and the best way to do that is to support small-business development and to invest in primary education, health and other forms of human capital.
Mbeki’s performance as a president has not been dismal as many naysayers would like us to believe. More good has come from his leadership than bad.
Mbeki is a good president but certainly not a perfect man. I have not read or heard of the existence of a perfect head of state in the modern history of mankind.
Brian Ndoda Biyela is a student at the American University in Washington DC studying toward a masters in economics