South Africa Can Work, by Frans Rautenbach

South Africa Can Work, by Frans Rautenbach. Penguin Random House South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa 2017. ISBN 9781776092406 / ISBN 978-1-77-609240-6

South Africa Can Work by Frans Rautenbach, who strives to encourage every citizen to be actively involved with their communities, and to rebuild it and each other. Decentralization of government and power is a theme throughout the book.

Frans Rautenbach  

Introduction: What is wrong with us?

'I used to believe your arguments. I no longer do. Trickle-down economics doesn't work.' My son's statement hit me like a fist in the gut. It was early 2016, was having a Mexican dinner in Cape Town with my sons Stefan and Daniel, both students at the University of Cape Town (UCT), We were discussing the #FeesMustFall movement that was wracking South African campuses. I made the point that, in my view, the demands of the protesters were wrongly directed against white people, and that the logical target of their ire should be the African National Congress (ANC) government. The discussion veered towards economics, and the government's mismanagement of the economy. I reiterated my view that a free market was the answer to our economic problems. That's when Stefan said it. While I was still staggering from the blow, trying to suck air back into my lungs, both my sons calmly declared their intention to vote for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in the upcoming municipal election. Yes, the political party of Julius Malema that has as its main policy plank the nationalisation of the economy. Second blow to the gut. My sons then accused me of believing in economic ideas - free-market policy - that were outdated and had been discredited. When I protested that I had been researching the topic for years, they replied, 'You only read the stuff that confirms your prejudices.' For 24 hours I reeled - not because my sons had a different opinion, but because I had failed over the years to win them over to my viewpoint on how South Africa should work, using arguments that I had thought were powerful and convincing, reaching self-evident conclusions. It was also clear that our views on race and education - indeed, about how to make South Africa work - differed dramatically. What if I had been wrong all along? What if I had completely missed the boat, and a whole world of policy change was passing me by like a ship in the night, the world inhabited by young people like my children? I realised that any discussion with them about making South Africa work, if it were to continue, would have to be prefaced by a carefully researched reexamination of my premises. I believe in freedom; in policies that give the individual the greatest amount of freedom, both economic and personal, to achieve what he or she sets out to achieve. The soul of this book is freedom - freedom for its own sake, but ultimately as a pathway to life quality; fundamentally, freedom from interference by the state. Why this passionate belief in freedom? How did I get here, believing what I do? When I was about nine, we holidayed at the Brenton Hotel in the southern Cape. After-dinner entertainment was a Dutch-speaking magician (bald, reminiscent of singer Herman van Veen) who effortlessly pulled reams of bright silk cloths from walking sticks, plucked white doves out of thin air, multiplied billiard balls in his hands, and seemed to make the impossible possible before our eyes. Night after night my little brother and I carefully observed his tricks, trying to catch him out, and night after night we relished the pleasure of being bamboozled. I craved to perform magic like that Dutch magician. [...]

This is an excerpt from South Africa Can Work, by Frans Rautenbach.

Title: South Africa Can Work
Author: Frans Rautenbach
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Imprint: Penguin Books
Cape Town, South Africa 2017
ISBN 9781776092406 / ISBN 978-1-77-609240-6
Softcover, 15 x 24 cm, 295 pages