Sliding in the scales…drifting into insignificance!

In a previous blog post, I toyed around with a few ideas about the sorts of things I would do if I were president. I’m afraid things seem to have gone haywire since then. Partly as a result of the global economic winds buffeting emerging market economies. But partly our fault. Of course it’s a much easier job standing on the sidelines pointing out all that is wrong with the country and what needs to be done. Talk is cheap, they say. But for things to improve, they probably needed to get to this low level first. That way, a good many of us would get to appreciate the importance of having good leaders who put the interests of the country ahead of theirs.

But despite the gloom everywhere, I’m positive there are some things we can do to get this country on the right track. That way, the country would eventually become part of that much-vaunted trillion dollar club.

A bit of context to set the scene

What sparked my interest in this matter of the the state of the South African economy is a tweet I read about the top ten economies in the world according to Investopedia. I had my expectations of who the members of that club would be, but I must admit I was a bit taken aback when I looked through the list. The usual suspects are part of that club (The US, Japan, UK, France, Italy, and Germany). But so is Brazil, Russia, India, and mighty China (all part of the BRIC club of course).

So all the BRIC countries are part of that famed trillion-dollar league. It’s interesting to note that some countries not in the top ten are already part of the trillion-dollar league as well and will likely ease into the top ten soon. Among the shining stars are Mexico, Canada, Australia, South Korea, and Spain - which not that long ago had its own financial troubles in the Euro zone. It seems most of the troubles have gone away and Spain has got a firm handle on things. But that’s a story for another day. 

So back to the BRIC club, things are not looking all that rosy lately. And with the current foibles that the Brazilian economy is experiencing - and given the commodity price meltdown that bedevils both Brazil and Russia (whose foreign exchange earnings are primarily derived from exports of resources for the most part), one could argue that their membership of the trillion-dollar club - and the top ten economy league - may be threatened. Countries like South Korea and Mexico are slowly breathing down their necks. Mighty China is spared from this threat, but not so for the other members.

What of sunny South Africa?

South Africa’s one is a sad tale. Ours remains a story of a country with so much potential on paper but falling far short in the way of practical accomplishments. We like to think of ourselves as a special country. We still have a hangover from the Mandela era when we were a darling of the world. We basked in the glory of freedom and occupied all sorts of platforms that the world lavished on us. Our mining companies (Anglo, Kumba Iron Ore, Exxarro, Amplats - you name them) thrived during the resources boom, by virtue of being blessed with a bounty of resources that voracious China was stocking up to fuel its construction boom. But alas, such opportunities are windfalls and do not last forever. They ought not to be wasted.

Even at a personal level, South Africans see themselves in the big league. We like to hang out with the big guns. We compare ourselves to countries like Australia (our eternal rivals in sport – cricket, rugby for the most part –these being white-dominated sports of course); and lately we pride ourselves as being part of the BRICs club, though our membership of that club has been the subject of incessant questioning from the get go. Our membership of that league has been vilified by no less than the very person who coined the BRIC term (Jim O’Neill, then chief economist at Goldman Sachs, 2001).

But ambition should be made of sterner stuff!

In itself it’s not a terrible thing being ambitious. But Shakespeare did warn us that ambition ought to be made of much sterner stuff. It turns out we are not. Not while endlessly defending incompetence and covering up for our education ministers who struggle to pronounce words such as epitome. Not that one’s command of the English language should matter that much in the broader scheme of things, but one would think we need to make an extra effort given that English is our lingua franca. It’s the language we use everywhere. And with that being the case, what use is there in us continually celebrating mediocrity and being quick to pin the race label on whoever or whatever it is that pricks our sensitive egos? We pander to the lowest common denominator. This while the standards of achievement are continually improving everywhere in the world. We have ministers (of Higher Education nogal!) whose only claim to fame is to constantly spew out antiquated theories about so-called counter-revolutions and colonisation. This in an age of apps, unicorns and the new economy. How can we expect such people to lead us to prosperity and to get us to compete with established stars like Silicon Valley, and emerging heroes such as South Korea and Malaysia - where unicorns and savvy apps are the new game in town? We harp on about apartheid and the damage it has inflicted on us. Not that this is insignificant of course. But no less than Steve Biko did remind us more than a generation ago that if anything is to become of this country, it’s up to us. Black man, you’re on your own, he said. Our leaders seem to have missed the point entirely. Or as the young ones would say it these days, they just don’t get it!

It’s never too late to get in on the game!

In a world governed by technology and innovation, constantly looking backwards and relying on so-called bounties of natural resources is a backward move. These are certainly not winning traits in the 21^st century business environment. Unfortunately if we carry on with the sorts of leaders we have, we’ll continue to miss out. We missed the boat during the resources boom when China went about on a buying spree gobbling up resources from emerging economies primarily. We are certainly missing the boat on the technology front where start-up companies are dominating the world. Our metros and universities are just not jumping on this bandwagon of innovation quick enough.

All we hear about every day is inanities from our ministers of important sectors like education, whose claim to fame is being a communist in a world that has marched on and embraced transparency and openness. Today’s emerging stars are countries like South Korea and Malaysia, who have firmly embraced technology and are world-beaters. It’s completely absurd why anyone would place an important sector like education in the hands of a communist? Or economic development for that matter. It defies logic. We have set the standard so low and yet continue to act puzzled when we come low on pretty much every metric of performance that is used out there.

On the economy scale, we rank a paltry 33^rd on the size of our GDP. This despite the fact that not that long ago we were the 24^th biggest economy in the world and all indications were that we were gonna become part of the big league following the economic boom that accompanied the arrival of democracy on our shores. We have since regressed from an economy with a GDP of roughly half a billion USD (500 billion USD or somewhere about there) to a GDP of around 350 billion USD today. The forecasts for economic growth are paltry and our economy will continue to contract. All because our priorities are misplaced.

So quo vadis now for South Africa?

It’s the politics, stupid! We need to get competent people to run the country. We need to get competent people to be in charge of the economy. We need to get rid of dinosaurs who mouth off cold-war era policies and platitudes. They are taking us backwards. We need a breed of people who embrace innovation and technology to take charge and save us from this mess. We are past the point of political correctness. Spending valuable time defending incompetent ministers and presidents is a waste of our time. For god’s sake, this is the 21^st century where the true measure of success is in the global marketplace where ideas and innovation are the defining themes.

Why can’t we seek the advice of the likes of Elon Musk who is championing the electric car revolution and powerful batteries to assist us with our solar energy plans (instead of giving in to the dark side and cosying up to Russia on nuclear energy and an uncertain energy future?). Why are we harking back to nuclear energy when the rest of the world has embraced transparency and openness? It’s not as if we can afford to pay for the nuclear energy that our president is trumping up. Our economy is sliding and our debt spiralling out of hand. Even in light of successes from the world-renowned REIPPP (Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme) that the South African government has championed – with obvious and undeniable benefits for society in general – we continue to defy logic and go against the grail. We live in the best of times where information is the common currency everywhere. Yet we have secretive programmes being conjured up by notoriously corrupt politicians. We have it within our means to save this country from this mess and make it a shining example of openness and transparency. And we have it in our means to waste this opportunity and become another basket case. So what will it be for sunny South Africa? The answers will play out during the year. The country certainly deserves a much better deal than this. 

Things I would do if I were president

I'm not a president of course. And as a matter of fact, I’ll never be one. And that’s not through a lack of ambition. Ambition should be made of sterner stuff! I’m not thick-skinned enough. Being a president is an overly demanding job. And your life is forever in the public spotlight. People hold all sorts of flattering and scathing opinions about you. You're the most influential person in a country. And in equal measure, you’re the subject of scorn and all sorts of condemnations. You’re the CEO of a mammoth corporation. So whichever way you look at it, this is a job and a half. You're supposed to be the grand all-seer, the master planner, and the disciplined tactician. You're supposed to mind the bottom line, and the heartbeat of the economy. You’re supposed to be consistently aware of all imminent risks and dangers confronting a nation, and pretty much everything that determines a county's progress on the world stage. It's a heck of a job being a president. Definitely not a job for lesser souls.

Yet I can think of a whole host of candidates in many countries who sign up for just such a job without the requisite skills or the foggiest idea of what the job entails. And I think that's wrong. And it saddens me when lesser mortals take on jobs they are not in the least qualified for. It sets the standard very low. It pulls down a nation. Ordinary citizens become obsessed with aiming for the lowest common denominator.

It's the economy, stupid!

If I were president, I’d place the economy at the heart of everything else. I'd go out of my way to ensure the economy functions optimally. Because for the most part, that’s all that truly matters. If the economy functions well, employment opportunities are created everywhere and citizens are content. People have opportunities to dream, and plan, and make things that they can sell. In that respect, they lend their hand in building an economy. I'd give dreamers an opportunity to try out all sorts of plans they can conjure up. I'd credit failure. Because it’s only when people have an opportunity to try out a whole bunch of things that they get to succeed. And fail. So I’d give incentives to dreamers and encourage them to keep trying. I’d incentivise success of course, but I’d make sure those who stumble are not hung out to dry.

A skills-driven economy

If I were president, I’d insist that good education and skills are the foundation upon which knowledge generation rests. I’d incentivise eager young learners and instil a sense of creativity in them. I'd bolster the adoption of technology and make sure every sector optimises use of the prevailing technologies at any given time. Some of these things need to be forced through. I'd go out of my way to make sure a platform is laid for the proliferation of technologies. Mine would be a technology-driven country!

A safe vessel in stormy seas!

If I were president, I'd keep my eyes on the horizon and look out for any trouble that may besiege the ship. Through my intelligence agencies and spies, I'd cultivate all sorts of information to better understand potential threats on the economy. I'd get my spies to diligently search for and analyse a plethora of information so we can better anticipate trouble. I'd engage in a little bit of strategic planning to best determine which direction my nation is sailing. I’d rely on data and charts to anticipate trouble and be assured that the ship is sailing towards our desired destination. If there are strikes that may affect perceptions about investments in my country, I’d quickly snuff those out by instructing corporates and unions to get their act together. I'd impose tight deadlines on the different parties to sort out their squabbles (instead of standing by idly while strikes drag on for months with damaging effects on the economy). I’d expose the glaring disparities between the salaries earned by mine executives (where executives get performance bonuses even in a climate of decreasing profits and sliding share prices) and blue collar workers. Using vast datasets available in the market, I’d get my quants to conduct complex statistical analyses and highlight the glaring inequalities and inequities in the economy. These I’d use when holding meetings with the different sectors. I’d insist on making data-driven decision making the epitome of my presidency.

I'd want to ensure that my creative scientists and technologists are hard at work envisioning solutions to improve things in my country. Technology always widens the cake and gives us options to make things better. I'd want technology to be top of the agenda at all times. I'd give app developers all sorts of incentives to dream and create innovative technologies in all spheres of life. I'd identify strategic assets such as platinum and coal and drive mines and companies to do more with these. I'd not want my country to miss out on commodities booms and windfalls that sweep the world every now and then. Such windfalls are golden opportunities not to be wasted.

A knowledge-driven economy

Knowledge drives the economy. It's what makes it resilient. And sustainable. I'd want all schools to be centres of technology and excellence. I'd insist that all companies, state institutions and municipalities become creative and embrace the ethos of knowledge. Efficiency would be the key driver of everything. I'd insist that institutions such as the Independent Electoral Commission for instance make full use of technology and adopt electronic voting or tallying systems. The same thing would apply to the Motor Vehicle Licencing and Home Affairs departments. I’d insist on full use of biometric and electronic systems to minimise fraud and forgery. I'd create incentives to reward early adopters of technologies in a bid to urge everyone along. I'd make sure I embed this type of thinking into the minds of the nation. I'd push my nation to always strive for a higher purpose. I'd do most of these things and more. If only I were president. But is this the only way there is? Probably not.

So it turns out that relying solely on government is not the only way there is. But of course you already know this. For most so-called public duties or services, there is always a matching private solution. Indeed the much quoted JFK line: "ask not what your country can do for you.. but what you can do for your country". Granted that public services are the responsibility of government, but nothing stops imaginative citizens from fashioning their own solutions to help government or to help themselves. As the cliché goes, the only guaranteed way to have a future you want is to create it yourself. I read that up somewhere. And I quite like it. So that’s the code I’m gonna live by. I'll do most of the things I've written about in this article. And more. Whatever is within my control or capability. So what's yours? Ever fantasized about being a president? What would you do differently?

A village story - the devastating impacts of the dreaded disease in poor villages!

In a previous blog posting, I confessed how I hold an idyllic view of rural villages – being originally from a rural village myself. The village in question here is in the Manyeleti (loosely translated as Place of Stars in the local Shangaan language) area, located on the north-eastern part of Mpumalanga Province in South Africa. This happens to be one of those few places where I can marvel at the unblemished sight of starlit skies at night, with a clear view of the Southern Cross and the radiant Pleiades (called Xirimela in the local language). When the weather is clear, one can behold the sheer glory of the silvery stars and smile. As the famous poet once narrated, “earth has not anything to show more fair…dull would he be of soul who could pass by a sight so touching in its majesty.” That is the sense of awe one gets when gazing at the skies at night down in the Manyeleti area.

But there is a storm brewing in this area. It was not that long ago that informed people sounded out warnings about the impending doom that would be brought about by HIV-Aids. The narrative at the time warned us that HIV-Aids would devastate large swathes of South Africa, especially the much poorer areas where people do not have the inherent adaptive capacity to survive shocks and nasty surprises. We paid little attention at the time and simply laughed off the warnings thinking Aids was something affecting rich people in far off places like Johannesburg. Unbeknownst to the poor village people, the monster was lurking in the shadows waiting for the right moment to pounce.  This then is a chilling story from a humble village not much different from other villages in South Africa.

There once was a quiet sleepy village..

You’ve probably known places like the one I’m writing about here. People get on with their lives and hold fast to common beliefs and ways of doing things. Traditional practices hold sway. People carry on with life drinking traditional beer and harvesting vegetables from the fields. One can get by on a pittance here.

So it is in this relatively quiet backdrop that the monster crept in. The disease completely obliterates villages and the traditional life set-up. The poor villagers go about their normal practices of going to local shebeens for traditional beer and a good time. After a few drinks, they start frolicking with local ladies. One thing leads to another, and the inevitable happens. This is the typical setup in most of these villages. So the pattern of infection multiplies. Their poor wives back at home are none the wiser and get infected as well.  So it all becomes a sad chain reaction. When the husband or wife gets sick, they are completely clueless about how to deal with their condition, even with the ready supply of antiretroviral drugs in public hospitals and clinics. 

It turns out one needs to understand exactly what they are dealing with in order to be able to stick to a treatment plan and make suitable adjustments in their lifestyles. This seems to escape the poor country folks. Blame it on their traditional practices. Blame it on the never-ending stigma associated with HIV-Aids. Or on lack of education.

Even worse, the poor people become easy targets for opportunistic preachers and spiritual healers who promise instant solutions. They get swindled out of their hard earned money by these shameless vultures. These are desperate people of course, the sort you’d convince and sell a magic potion to. Instant solutions sit well with their beliefs. After all, claims about traditional doctors who’ve mastered some cure-for-all ailments refuse to die. The poor village people swear by these stories. Except the stories aren’t true. Desperate people do not have much to cling to in a storm. They’ll hold fast to anything that gives hope, however outlandish.

These poor people can’t be trusted to stick to doctors’ prescriptions faithfully, which is pretty much what is required with antiretroviral drug treatment. And that is the real cause of the tragedy.

So is there a way out?

In the long run, there should be. Organisms that do not quickly adapt to changing conditions eventually lose out and get eliminated. They do not get to contribute their progeny to future generations. Forgive me for being crude here, but that’s the way natural selection works. That is probably the fate facing many poor people from the villages.

The sad thing is that hardly anyone needs to die of Aids these days given the treatment options available. But people do. This is owing largely to plain ignorance, or a lack of understanding about the nature of the beast they are dealing with. And there is the little matter of a clash between prevailing Western scientific knowledge and the cultural traditions. The ordinary villagers find all these things befuddling. They can’t faithfully stick to a treatment plan or doctors’ prescriptions. If they feel better after taking medication, they tend to toss the pills aside and stop with treatment altogether. After all, what’s the point of taking pills if one is not feeling sick? And if the magic potion guy shows up with his cure-for-all, the poor village people will likely believe him. One can spin theories and sell them to these folks. So the tragedy really lies in not having enough understanding to deal with complex matters and choosing to act in old established ways. No wonder so many of them die.

I walk down the streets and am scared of asking about people I haven’t seen in a while lest they be among the departed. This cuts right across the board; from the old, the young, and the happy beer-drinkers who crowd the local shebeens. Incidentally, the shebeens are the killer corners where the fate of many families has been written. Most shebeen regulars have died. Many more will. The villages are places of dysfunctional families headed by orphans. Most of them are places of little hope. The government should surely think of a plan to save these families? Something’s got to give. 

We can blame it on those many years of foot-dragging by the government during Madiba’s and Mbeki’s tenures. We are certainly paying a very high price. This has got to be front page news. I wouldn’t be overly surprised if the population of the country has flattened somewhat (or probably already decreased in some hard-hit areas). We probably have immigrants to thank in those areas reporting rising populations.

The short end of the stick!

I would argue that the village people got the short end of the stick through no fault of their own. This was owing to conditions they find themselves in, which they can’t make much sense of. So what’s gonna become of their lot? They are already faring badly. The dreaded disease can only worsen things for them. It will be interesting to examine the villages years from now to see what effects the marauding monster has had on them. I’m not saying this as a pessimist, but as one with a vested interest in the poor villages. I would want to see them develop and grow and succeed. But I fear the dreaded disease is running the show here. Fate has dealt these poor people a nasty deuce of spades. And their capacity to adapt seems stretched beyond limits.  The types of businesses that thrive in this area are those connected with death; the macabre type-businesses (funeral parlours, hiring out of tents, etc.). You make your money when other people grieve the loss of their loved ones. Very chilling indeed, but this is a fact of life in the Place of the Stars.

 

A dose of uncomfortable truths

I have seen hell, and it’s got an ugly face. I’ve seen hell in a place called Manyeleti, which is part of the idyllic lowveld area. This is an area with beautiful star-lit skies at night with a much clearer view of the Southern Cross and other silvery stars. This is the place with the highest infestations of the dreaded disease that I’ve seen anywhere. The Place of Stars is part of the wider Bushbuckridge Municipality, which itself is a microcosm of conditions in poor rural areas in Mzansi. The government’s attempt to roll out free antiretroviral drugs, though well-meant, seems to have very little effect here. Unsurprisingly the rate of HIV-Aids infections in the country remains stubbornly high despite all the best efforts of government and civil society according to the latest findings by the Human Sciences Research Council. A few people benefit here and there, but even my poor mom can attest that we seem to be slowly losing the war on the dreaded disease. Some people do take the drugs and stick with the treatment plan, but a great many abandon the prescriptions after a short while and sadly die.

It makes no sense why people would continue to die in their numbers when drugs are available. But a cross section of the area reveals some uncomfortable truths. One of these is the traditional practices the poor people cling to. These practices must be done away with. Or better still, the traditional practices ought to be held up to the light to expose the cracks. Absence of knowledge is the biggest deterrent to progress. Sadly, natural selection will drive for the exclusion of unfavourable traits which hold our species back. One of those traits will surely be the absence of knowledge, which reduces our adaptive capacity as a species. 

Triumph of the city – a tribute to the best invention of humanity!

So the doomsayers are forever at it complaining that the world is overpopulated. These are the folks who see the cup as half-full. To them a small population is a godsend and they argue that we ought to keep the human population small to overcome social problems. As I have argued in a previous blogposting, smaller populations do not provide much of an advantage and may in fact be a hindrance to economic development. Of course this is a generalisation and I know full well that there are exceptions to this rule (think of poor countries in Asia such as Pakistan and Bangladesh - which all have fairly big populations). But the undeniable fact is that fairly sizable populations (and a hundred million seems a fair bet according to The Economist) seem to augur well for economic development opportunities. 

Some of the leading economies in the world today have relatively big populations. As already acknowledged, there are exceptions to this rule, but the argument of a positive correlation between a big population and a much higher GDP makes sense. One need only look at the economies of mighty China (1.3 billion; 2^nd biggest economy by GDP), Brazil (200 billion – 7^th biggest), India (over a billion; 10t^h biggest), Japan (3^rd biggest economy; over a hundred million people), Germany (80 million; 4^th biggest GDP), and the US (300 million; number 1 GDP).

The inexorable march to the city

Sometime in 2013, Planet Earth reached a milestone when many more people supposedly lived in cities compared to those in rural areas. Personally I celebrated that achievement. Now let me state outrightly that I do hold an idyllic and romanticised view of rural areas. After all, I've spent the better part of my life in a village and still spend my holidays there. But rural areas are a nightmare from a number of areas: it is virtually impossible and very costly to deliver bulk services to rural areas. The government - with good intentions of course – does intend to provide energy and a whole suite of bulk services to rural areas (they call it service delivery). But because rural areas are spread out, it’s a heck of a challenge to cost-effectively deliver suitable services. And people in rural areas in South Africa are not used to paying for services. So even a well-meaning municipality quickly finds that rural areas are a drain on its revenue collection system. Not that there are no options to change this, but it requires a heck of an effort and would probably take a much longer time for the culture of non-payment for services to be eradicated. After all, we readily pay for and accept use of prepaid phones. Why can’t the same logic apply to paying for services?

It is a well-known fact that the national electricity provider in South Africa (Eskom) is struggling with collections of payments for electricity in places such as Soweto. But that’s a story for another day. I see this whole debacle as an opportunity for innovative leadership where incentives could be created to encourage payment for services used. It has not escaped my attention that the good people of Gauteng are quietly buying e-tags and registering their e-toll accounts even though there has been fierce opposition to tolling Gauteng roads. Things definitely do improve with time. It’s the way the world works I guess.

The inevitable triumph of the city

In a book called Triumph of the City, the urban economist Edward Glaeser puts forward telling arguments about the advantages of city living. It turns out that we owe pretty much everything we’ve come to enjoy today thanks to the generation of smart ideas made possible by the city. The story goes like this: cities bring skilled people together. This is as a result of the availability of suitable services, reduced commute times, the concentration of skilled people, and the general availability of free and open markets that facilitate the spread of innovative ideas and wealth. The types of amenities that make city living desirable are the very things that promote wealth creation. Cities make it possible for people to get together, have fun and be creative, while building the economy. So you get the picture I guess.

In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell sets out to decipher genius and argues that geniuses are able to succeed and thrive largely because of the supportive environments and circumstances under which they were born or lived. No one ever makes it alone. Call it the luck of the draw - being born in the right place at the right time. These are essentially attributes that cities provide – one has a better shot at success in a city than in a village. For geniuses like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, it made sense that they were exposed to computers from a young age and grew up using them. There are numerous examples of geniuses who succeeded in other fields, but the common thread in all of them is the supportive environment and the benefit of being in the right area at the right time. Living in a city provides that immense advantage.

There are numerous examples of ways in which cities have contributed a great deal to the lifestyles and habits that define modern life today. The concentration of skilled people and suitable amenities allows for a favourable environment for the generation of innovative ideas. Silicon Valley is a case in point as far as the computer technology boom is concerned. Johannesburg owes its existence to the mining of gold and the attraction of industries linked to mining. London is the financial hub of the world due to the concentration of skilled financiers and bankers. Paris has forever been the fashion capital of the world and will hold that distinction for years to come. The point is not so much that these things could not have been done elsewhere, but simply that the city environment made it a lot easier for the clever ideas to be replicated. Cities, by their nature, tend to foster the spread of innovative ideas.

The demise of poor villages

Even in the relatively less-developed South African setup, villages are definitely on their way out. Soon most of them will become the equivalent of ghost towns. Even mighty China has come to accept the inevitability of urbanisation. The thing is, villages are expensive to maintain and they generate very little wealth. As opposed to having departments that encourage rural development and economic stimulation of rural areas, it would make sense to accept the reality of urbanisation and do everything we can to promote such a trend. This would make it easy for society to tackle many of the social problems that confront us.

The cities I’m talking about here are not the typical townships and suburbs in South Africa. The townships are an apartheid relic and are a nightmare for development planners. We should be advocating a rethink of our settlement patterns to encourage densification and concentration. Sadly, the proliferation of so-called ‘RDP houses' in South Africa is definitely a step in the wrong direction and a missed opportunity to build sustainable settlements. The best type of urbanisation would best be achieved through insisting on high-rise buildings (skyscrapers) and flats. Suburbs are also a no-no. From a resource efficiency point of view, suburbs present their own unique challenges such as increased traffic congestions and inefficient use of energy. I know most of us hold the cherished aspiration of building houses in less-scattered settlements and leafy suburbs. But we must be open to the reality that our fancy suburbs are not the best deal for the environment.

The most efficient (and most productive) cities in the world are those characterised by high-rise buildings and densification. Cities, by their nature, do promote the densification of skilled people who tend to become the bedrock of a country’s economy. Even in its seemingly run-down state, Johannesburg is still the heartbeat of the South African economy. Cities like London, Paris, Tokyo, San Francisco, and New York stand as prime examples of the benefits of densification and the generation of smart ideas. And because of the concentration of skilled people - who in turn generate smart ideas - cities hold the last hope of guiding Planet Earth to a more sustainable future.

So the undeniable fact is that villages are not sustainable. One can build shopping centres and all types of crafty developments in them, but these things would probably be ideally located in cities. In any case, villages compete with cities for skilled people and in the long run are going to lose out.

So there you have it folks. Cities are our greatest invention and they make us smarter, richer, greener, healthier and happier. And these are pretty much the very qualities we need to guarantee a sustainable future for our civilisation, wouldn't you say?

MOOCs to the rescue in solving South Africa's educational woes!

There is a silent revolution brewing in the educational sphere. The typical classroom setup hasn’t changed much from the beginning of time. It’s still primarily a case of the teacher passing instructions to eager (or bored) learners, and then giving them homework and exercises to complete afterwards. The poor pupils are graded on the basis of how well they perform in such tests. Not much room for fun there I’m afraid. The average pupil gets bored with these tedious tasks. The situation is even worse in poor countries where classes tend to be overcrowded and there’s very little direct communication or interaction between teachers and pupils. Certainly it was like that in the schools I attended. No wonder there are very few geniuses from Manyeleti!

Making education fun

Education doesn’t have have to be this tedious. You see, the world has moved on with new technologies and fun ways to do things. Most of these are open to the relatively better-off of course.  Kids own iPads and tablet computers these days. That makes the whole learning process fun and interactive. There’s a rich repertoire of tools that kids with access to the internet can use to make learning fun and relevant. Struggling with libraries? You can read free stuff on the internet. Virtually everything is available for free. Look up anything you are not sure of and get a world of information on your fingertips. I vividly remember those days when I would wander around a library only to find that the book I was looking for had been checked out. It meant waiting for the book to be returned. Very frustrating process if ever there was one. But kids of these days are not (and should not be) faced with such a challenge.

Short of libraries? You can just download free videos on YouTube of the exact thing you are interested in. The only limitation currently is the exorbitant charges that the internet providers in SA levy for access to broadband. But that is bound to change soon. That’s pretty much where our politicians should be channelling their energies unapologetically. The future is gonna be a very bright place. In no time cities will have free wireless access all around. I‘m not sure who’s going to be first out the door with this in SA (Stellenbosch, Cape Town, Joburg, Tshwane – any takers?), but that day of free broadband internet access is just around the corner.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) – a pot full of gold!

SA is struggling with severe skills shortages and poor education standards. As opposed to closing ourselves off in a corner hoping we will improve things by ourselves, I think the internet provides a brilliant opportunity for us to catch up with the rest of the world. World-class institutions such as MIT (ocw.mit.edu/‎) have for years been running free open online courses that anyone in the world can access. If that is not the free education that our dim-witted politicians consistently make noise about, I don’t know what is.

There is an opportunity for poorly-equipped schools and universities to align their curriculums and educational content with the free stuff offered by the likes of MIT. Gosh, they even offer course material, lecture notes, videos, assignments, and all the rest. Just what more could one wish for?  It takes sheer laziness for teachers not to be aware of or take advantage of these open platforms.

Next time you hear someone complaining bitterly about the poor education standards in SA, point them to these high quality open education platforms. If I were anywhere in the department of education (or in government for that matter) I would insist that every educational institution in the country has access to free wireless internet or broadband so they could tap into the wealth of material available in cyberspace. The internet provides a glorious opportunity for poor people to catch up with the rest of the world on the knowledge front. If we let this opportunity slip, “the fault will not be with the stars but with ourselves that we will remain underlings”.

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[1] Massive Open Online Courses