Rebuilding a state that works for all the people cannot be conceived purely at the level of clean ups and ‘orange overalls’. The need for a professional civil service that has relative autonomy in making decisions within their field of competence has been neglected, especially on the left. Political heads need to allow professionals space to act within their competence. The all-round crisis that engulfs South Africa stares us in the face. The level of crime appears beyond the capacity of police to control even if they had the desire. Many clearly do not have the inclination to perform their duties and are themselves complicit in criminality through the selling of arms, and several other illicit activities.
Better Choices: Ensuring South Africa's Future is a collection by South Africa’s top thinkers on the political economy. A bleak picture currently exists of South Africa with state capture, failures of government institutions, loadshedding and more. In this book, the various thinkers outline exactly the solutions – the ‘better choices’– that need to be made by leadership to alter the country’s bleak trajectory. One of the editors of the book, Ray Hartley explains why the book is important.