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PROBLEM

1. South Africa is faced with a number of social problems that are common to most nations in varying degrees. It becomes necessary to establish the basic common causes rather than try to find temporary solutions to what are only the perceived symptoms.
   
2. South Africa has a high level of unemployment out of which arises many symptoms such as poverty, malnutrition, health problems, crime and lack of security, and loss of human dignity.
   
3. The fact that there are nearly a thousand million people living in abject poverty world-wide shows that not only South Africa but the world at large needs to find and supply answers to the basic causes.
   
4. It is a well-known fact that a very small sector of the population claim absolute ownership to a large percentage of land and natural resources worldwide. A mere 2.5% own in excess of 75% of the land. Much of this land is withheld from use because of speculation and greed. Meanwhile large numbers of people are unemployed and denied access to land where they could become self-employed.
   
5. The purpose of Governments worldwide should be to break this stranglehold over land. This cannot be accomplished piecemeal and without central government taking a serious overview.
   
6. Individual departments of government do not have it in their mandate or power to find and apply permanent solutions. This can result in futile and expensive changes to laws and regulations: often making matters worse.
   
7. The departmental restrictions often result in lack of communication between departments and at various levels of government. Officials become fearful of stepping out of line; urgent decisions are delayed and the decisive steps necessary never materialise. The evidence of this is clearly visible to those who are prepared to look.
   
8. Clauses within the Constitution and Bill of Rights are interpreted to fit the present situation instead of conditions being altered to obey the finer intentions of our progressive Constitution.
   
9. The instability resulting from the above becomes a threat to National Security
   

Questions Arise

Are the correct questions being addressed?

• Is a lot of time, effort and expense being applied to find temporary solutions to symptoms rather than permanent answers to the major basic causes?
  
• Would it be possible to raise the problems of Land Restitution, Land Distribution, Willing Buyer / Willing Seller, Foreign Ownership, Housing, Unemployment, Security etc. to a higher level of Government, where other Ministers could become part of the solution?
  
• Are not many of the problems being addressed by various Government departments often part of the same basic causes and aggravated by restricted solutions?
  
• Does Government have any long-term vision that will alleviate the poverty and other problems being suffered by a large portion of our nation? There is no evidence to this effect!
  
• Why do we continue to suffer under the Dead-Weight Taxes inherited from the previous Apartheid Government; taxes that are a direct cause of unemployment?
  
• Why do we have taxes that increase the cost of production and make our exports less competitive in international markets?
  
• Why do we not accept the proven fact that most other nations also have no solutions to the same problems, and try to find our own?
  
• South Africa enjoyed one of the best property rating systems in the world until the new Property Rates Act was introduced. Site Value Rating encouraged economic growth whilst Improved Value Rating told capital investment to go somewhere else, and it did. Why do we now give an unearned bonus of approximately R130 million per annum to the owners of vacant land in Cape Town alone and thus encourage them to continue stalling land reform?
  
• Who in Government is prepared and able to take a serious look at the basic causes of many of our national problems and then seek out realistic solutions?

Action

• When a decision has been taken to investigate the basic causes of our problems then there will be plenty of help available from those who have made an in-depth study of the subject. Wisdom as yet untapped!
  
• As a start, there is a Power Point presentation already available that can form the basis for initial discussion.
  
• When the political objective has been decided upon then an action plan can be drawn up on how to get there by the safest and quickest route, avoiding the hidden dangers on the way.
  
• There will be strong resistance from those who have benefited most from the present imperfect system and who have frequently played a part in deliberately creating confusion to their own advantage.
  
• If there is a strong determination on the part of Government to solve our own problems, South Africa could rapidly become an example to the rest of the world.
  
• South Africa is in a unique position to bring about the necessary changes that would be almost impossible in the older economies where entrenched wealth and power calls the shots.
  
• From a National Security point of view, South Africa should be placed in a strong position to enjoy a substantial "Peace Dividend" to the benefit of all.
  

Change is easiest where change is taking place!