This book is not an analysis of South Africa’s problems. It is an
outline of what we must change to have the South Africa of our dreams. In these
pages, I challenge myself and all those who are willing to take a chance to
pursue a higher ideal, something bigger than any individual, a belief that we
can be the stewards of our own destiny. This is a manifesto.’
For millions of South Africans, the promise of democracy, a promise our
Constitution attempts to set out in its preamble, will not be realised in their
lifetime. Some who are yet to be born will live and die poor and marginalised
because their country was not ready to provide the tools that would help them
to make their lives meaningful, healthy and prosperous.
This situation is no accident. While the structural conditions that created the
initial inequalities are a result of colonialism and apartheid, the worsening of
this condition after 2010 is the result of political negligence, incompetence and
rampant corruption borne out of a deep disconnection between the political
elites and the real needs of the people. South Africa is in urgent need of a
comprehensive overhaul of its political and state institutions, its social
structures and institutions as well as its economy and policies.
Manifesto presents a challenge to the professional class, black and white – who
should know that turning the country around will take much more than good
intentions – to urgently return to public life. They are key to moving South
Africa towards modern democratic politics and can help to grow its economy to
fit in and thrive in a rapidly evolving world. South Africa will get nowhere if the
most able continue to be on the periphery of politics.
Instead, we must adopt a different mindset and take on a new generational
mission to accept the responsibility of leadership so that South Africa can finally
have the future it has been waiting for the ANC to deliver.
What's in the box
1 x Book
