A more equitable and fair society, able to conquer the effects of pandemics, starts with debt-free education and skills development.
One year ago, South Africa headed to the polls leading to a decisive victory for President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose government emerged from the Jacob Zuma era which was defined by destructive corruption and malaise. Markets rallied, consumer confidence spiked and South Africans sighed a collective sigh of relief, despite numerous societal challenges.
In order to progress towards a more equitable and fair society, we must envisage one that empowers our people with the tools to do so, and it starts with debt-free education and skills development. The assault on the finances of working-age South Africans inhibits our ability to build a robust African economic powerhouse and as a result, I predict we will see anaemic growth for the foreseeable future. Our major national banks need to step up to the plate and do more than espouse the empty sloganisms of public relations campaigns proming “to be there for you during Covid-19”.
In a country with staggering inequality and poverty, it is politically expedient to blame individuals for failing to pay their debts off rather than assessing the structural inequities that affect conditions to pay. Ample research has linked racialised socioeconomic inequities to higher numbers of family dependents relying on black graduates. This phenomenon is colloquially known asand does not count the burden of escalating living costs all South Africans are faced with.
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