EDITORIAL COMMENT

IT’S TIME TO CHANGE COURSE

After 28 years of democracy, South Africa is an unviable society with unemployment rates of 77.4 per cent for youths, 51.5 per cent for Africans, 55.6 per cent for African females and 54.5 per cent in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo provinces. ere are now 12.5 million unemployed people. e unemployment rate for people of all races is 46.6 per cent. South Africa’s unemployment crisis is a national disgrace, the most heartbreaking betrayal of the dreams and promises of our liberation.

In April and May 2021, 10 million people and 3 million children went hungry. And women were more likely to shield children from hunger, according to a recent survey. Between 1994 and 2020, South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita increased by only 16.1 per cent.

By comparison, Malaysia’s GDP per capita increased by 654.1 per cent in local currency over the same period. If such statistics do not provide evidence of the mismanagement of the economy since 1994, consider that the International Monetary Fund has forecast GDP growth of 1.5 per cent a year between 2022 and 2026.

On this trajectory, the unemployment rate will increase to more than 50 per cent. Poverty and inequality will continue to increase. South Africa is facing a dystopian future until 2030. Repeat episodes of political and social unrest and instability could turn the country into an economic wasteland. e time has come to change direction and chart a new course towards economic development until 2030 and beyond.

South Africa needs a new macroeconomic policy framework, which has an annual six per cent GDP growth target that is binding on National Treasury and the Reserve Bank. ere must be a national discussion about how to achieve this target and start reversing the crises of unemployment, poverty and inequality.

IN THIS ISSUE

is relaunched edition of African Leader includes three contributions on what should be done to get the economy growing at this rate. Asghar Adelzadeh and Pali Lehohla outline three scenarios for the economy until 2030. e nayi le walk scenario takes the country to six per cent GDP growth.

Busi Mavuso, the CEO of Business Leadership South Africa, writes that the priorities should be to achieve a stable supply of energy and roll out a R1-trillion infrastructure programme. Feminist economist Busi Sibeko says the most important issue is to ditch the neoliberal economic policies of the past 28 years, which are to blame for the country’s slow growth. I call for a Basic Income Grant to address the immediate humanitarian crisis and provide a rst stimulus to the economy.

Mcebisi Ndletyana pens an analysis of the local government elections, and Monde Ndlovu analyses the challenges facing the Black Management Forum over the next 45 years.

Duma Gqubule Editor

BMF president: Andile Nomlala Deputy president: Esethu Mancothwa BMF editorial team: Acting managing director: Philippe Bakahoukoutela Head of communications, marketing and events: Khulukazi Mtebele Head of advocacy and thought leadership: Monde Ndlovu Address: The Eric Mafuna House, 12 Summer Street, Rivonia, Sandton, Gauteng, 2196 www.bmfonline.co.za

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Keeping you safe in the sky

SACAA working together with the aviation industry to realise aviation transformation

The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA), an agency of the Department of Transport, is a Schedule 3A public entity charged with regulating and enforcing civil aviation safety and security and promoting a sustainable civil aviation environment. This is done by regulating and overseeing the functioning and development of the industry in an efficient, cost-effective manner according to international standards.

Aviation plays a critical role in providing connectivity, locally and globally but also through the socio-economic benefits that a thriving aviation industry provides to the country. However, the transformation of the industry to reflect the demographics of the country has been a slow process. As at 31 December 2021, the statistics of aviation personnel with licences issued by the SACAA reflected that 85% of South African pilot’s licence holders are white and with regard to the combined categories of aircraft maintenance engineers, cabin crew and air traffic services, 73% of the licence holders are white. These statistics make it abundantly clear that much still needs to be done to achieve transformation in the aviation industry. radio campaign. This campaign focused on aviation career awareness and transformation, and thus far, 53 interviews on 41 radio stations and one television programme were conducted in the last financial year.

The SACAA also introduced a bursary programme, which has sponsored 70 beneficiaries so far, including once-off sponsored students, of which many have qualified, and some have been offered positions in their specific fields. The bursaries cover various streams of study, such as Aeronautical Engineering, Maintenance Engineering, Piloting, etc. To ensure effectiveness, students are offered financial assistance from the beginning through to the end of their particular choice of study.

The SACAA also hosted interns for a period of between 12 and 24 months with the purpose of providing them with exposure and experience in the various fields of aviation fields. In addition, the SACAA has also introduced a Trainee Programme which focusses mainly on areas where there are critical and scaresscarce skills in the industry.

For over a decades, the SACAA, together with aviation stakeholders, has endeavoured to bring about meaningful change in this regard, by implementing career awareness programmes that aim to demystify aviation to learners, especially in previously disadvantaged communities. School visits, air shows, aviation youth shows and airport shows have served the purpose of sharing information about careers in aviation, which is vital in assisting learners to make informed decisions about their future. In the current financial year, the SACAA visited about 160 schools and reached over 25 000 high school learners.

As the pandemic-related lockdowns limited physical interactions, over the past two years, the SACAA embarked on a nationwide community Internally, the racial profile of the SACAA indicates its commitment to equity, in that 89% of the employees are Black and this is made up of the African, Indian, and Coloured race groups. The gender statistics reflect the staff numbers as being 51% females and 49% males.

The SACAA makes a call to all aviation stakeholders to play their part in helping the transformation of the aviation industry, whether by assisting with mentoring, with bursaries or finances, or by enabling those cadets who have qualified with the opportunity to build up their flying hours to gain experience. Together, we can transform the aviation industry to build the pipeline of aviation experts that we will need in the future, for the benefit of our society.