JASON MUSYOKA | SA’s leaders are stuck in a Sisyphus cycle — and time is running out

Writing to the church in Corinth around 55 AD, Paul narrates his visit to Macedonia as full of external conflicts from outside and fears within. Consequently, there was neither the time nor the opportunity to relax from multiple pressure points.

About two millennia on, the vexing tension between external and internal forces is easily applicable to South Africa. Under the country’s second republic (the post-1994 regime), internal tensions started to manifest within the governing party in 2005, when former president Thabo Mbeki fired his deputy for allegations of corruption.

By the mid-2010s, South Africa’s political space was highly fragmented, and with it disordered ideological wreckage. For the most part, the previously neat Left and Right converted to self-interested economic adventurers, no longer committed to ideology.

To be fair, the maturing of democracy is often a disorganised and untidy process. There are forces for and against democracy, centrifugal and centripetal, which manifest either in sociopolitical order or disorder. For South Africa, the latter has been the mainstay. What is disorderly within the country is not just the governing party but the state itself, ideology and the society at large. The social disorder is characterised by corruption, high inequality, high unemployment, xenophobia and oversupply of labour. These are fears within.

Externally, South Africa’s foreign policy faces headwinds, from Trumpism to the Ukraine-Russian conflict to regional threats. On the former, South Africa is not welcome at the G20 in 2026, Agoa’s renewal remains uncertain, and the country’s Afrikaner citizens are being admitted to the US as refugees based on propaganda. Regionally, Rwanda, a country four times smaller than South Africa in population terms, has the courage to threaten military action. These are conflicts without.

The economic impact of fears within and conflicts without is far-reaching. The essential question is the extent to which South Africa’s leadership in political, economic and social spaces is innovative and effective.

The economic impact of fears within and conflicts without is far-reaching. The essential question is the extent to which South Africa’s leadership in political, economic and social spaces is innovative and effective. Politically, for the most part, the country is in trouble, with a leadership that is ageing, without a visible, proper succession plan.

The inability to equip young political leadership is an unsafe gamble with the country’s future. Economic leadership on its part remains elusive. The chaotic currents of the moment seem to have forced GDP growth aspirations onto the shelves. Social leadership involves collective efforts towards enabling social cohesion. The evidence of rampant racism, unconcealed xenophobia and out-of-control crime is indicative of broken social cords, which civil society, the state and markets seem overwhelmed by.

For South Africa to get back on course, several turns are inevitable. First, leaders in the state, markets and civil society need to understand the real state and the alarm bells of political, social and economic voids. The denial of the triple disorder is to bury proverbial heads in the sand. In this scenario, a remarkable catastrophe is inevitable.

Second, leaders in the three spheres need to re-engage the public in a more sincere and focused sense, aimed at restoring discourse on the country’s present and future, rather than the enduring overdose of the past. Third, the content of the discourse should include the resolve for labour skills development. This is a make-or-break point for the country’s social and economic future.

On work skills development, it is critical to maintain sustained efforts of both hard and soft skills. While hard skills relate to professional qualifications, soft skills relate to work ethics and professionalism. This sort of soft skills development, which should aim at improving organisational efficiency across civil society, the state and the private sector, is an urgent intervention.

I agree with Mmusi Maimane that a 30% matric pass rate is a missed opportunity. The pass rate grading should be progressively increased, while investing heavily in improving the quality of learners already in the primary and secondary school system. Universities are spaces for rigorous international competition, and lowering the entry standards undermines the very concept of universal (global) institutions of innovation.

In the final analysis, South Africa’s multiple transitions, if not managed effectively, are akin to the impossible task of Sisyphus, who, according to Greek mythology, was condemned by the gods to roll an immense rock up a hill, only for it to roll back down every time it neared the top, repeating this action for eternity.

For South Africa, its leaders are Sisyphus, the rock is sociopolitical and economic challenges within and without, and the gods are apartheid architects. For three decades, the rock has been rolling back long before it nears the top. It is time to change strategy.

• Musyoka is a development economist and leadership consultant