Ramphele warns of chaos
2009-07-01 08:23
Cobus Claassen
Pretoria – Director of the World Bank and convenor of the so-called Dinokeng group, Mamphela Ramphele, has said the first of various ticking time bombs in South Africa have begun to explode.
She was a guest speaker in Pretoria at a future conference of the Solidarity union on Tuesday.
Dinokeng is a diverse group of 35 esteemed South Africans who met last year with the aim of trying to determine how the country could look by 2020.
The group says South Africa finds itself at a crossroads of three scenarios: walk apart, walk behind or walk together.
Government was failing
Ramphele said the government was responsible for the various time bombs, because it failed on education, health, crime, poverty and unemployment. "We are seeing increasing agitation because people are tired of hearing the empty promises municipalities make. This is one of the time bombs which is set to explode."
She said South Africans should start reclaiming their ownership, "since the country does, after all, belong to us. It will require a mind shift in perspective and a step out of our comfort zones.”
“The striking doctors are doing this now and this is another time bomb starting to explode. The strike is causing utter chaos, but it is necessary in order for government to get the message.
Bleak predictions
According to Ramphele, the strike will force the government to contemplate the health sector, "which has become a gravy train going nowhere".
She said it was of utmost importance that citizens and leaders from all sectors become involved and start demanding better service delivery. Ramphele said the onus was on South Africans to choose the walk-together scenario.
The Dinokeng group sketches South Africa in a walking alone scenario by 2018 up to 2020, as a country where the separation between the government and citizens increases, budgeted deficits increase, service delivery deteriorates day by day, and "gangs, self-appointed mayors and taxi organisations reign in local areas".
- Beeld