NKOSANA THOBELA | A nation trapped in selective and convenient truths

South Africa’s public discourse has become trapped in a cycle of selective truth-telling — a trend and dishonesty that must now stop.

It is a cycle that comforts, deflects and ultimately disables progress.

At one end, there are persistent claims, sometimes overt and often implied, that incompetence, lack of skills, or institutional decline can be simplistically attributed to black leadership or participation.

On the other, there is a political, and increasingly, business elite that leans heavily on history as both shield and script, invoking it to explain away present failures while substantially and exclusively benefiting from the very systems they denounce.

Both positions are not only incomplete, they are profoundly dishonest.

To speak of incompetence without acknowledging history is to erase the structural reality that shaped South Africa. The modern economy did not emerge in a vacuum. It was built through intentional exclusion: laws, policies and practices that denied the black majority access to quality education, capital, land ownership and economic participation for generations. The planning behind all of this was very sophisticated and scientific.

By 1996, fewer than 17% of black South Africans had completed matric, compared with over 70% of the white population. Public spending on education during apartheid was estimated to be up to 10 times higher per white learner than per black learner in the 1980s. These were not mere marginal gaps, but deliberate systemic designs.

The persistence of structural disparities

The effects of this history remain deeply embedded and visible. Today, South Africa’s unemployment rate sits at approximately 32% (narrow definition) and rises to 41–42% under the expanded definition. Among black South Africans, and particularly the youth, the burden is far heavier, with youth unemployment exceeding 43%. By contrast, white unemployment remains below 10%.

Educational outcomes further reflect these disparities. Approximately 80% of Grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning, while international assessments such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS) show large proportions of learners performing below basic proficiency in mathematics and science. These are not isolated shortcomings; they are the enduring consequences of structural exclusion.

The continued invocation of historical injustice by segments of the black political and business elite has, in many instances, shifted from explanation to excuse.

To ignore this is to misdiagnose the problem and worse, to perpetuate narratives that fracture the much-needed social cohesion. Yet to stop the analysis of history is equally misleading.

The continued invocation of historical injustice by segments of the black political and business elite has, in many instances, shifted from explanation to excuse. While inequality remains structurally rooted, its persistence today is also shaped by contemporary decisions, such as policy missteps, governance failures and corruption, among others.

South Africa has, for over three decades, had the agency to reshape its socio-economic trajectory. There have been significant tangible gains: access to electricity has increased from roughly 58% of households in 1996 to over 87% today, and access to basic services has expanded exponentially. A black middle class has emerged, and participation in the formal economy has broadened.

However, these gains have been uneven and fragile.

South Africa remains one of the most unequal societies in the world, with a Gini coefficient of approximately 0.63–0.66. More than 55% of the population lives below the upper-bound poverty line, the overwhelming majority being black South Africans.

At the same time, state inefficiencies and corruption have eroded progress. Irregular government expenditure has accumulated to hundreds of billions of rand over the past decade, while state capture alone is estimated to have cost the economy R500bn.

Blaming history in perpetuity, while participating in systems that continue to reproduce even higher levels of inequality, is definitely not justice, nor does it demonstrate a genuine concern. It seems to spell hypocrisy.

A troubling reality has emerged: a relatively small, politically connected elite has accumulated significant wealth, often through state-linked opportunities, while broad-based empowerment remains limited. Despite decades of transformation policy, less than 10% of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s market capitalisation is meaningfully black-owned in unencumbered terms.

Blaming history in perpetuity, while participating in systems that continue to reproduce even higher levels of inequality, is definitely not justice, nor does it demonstrate a genuine concern. It seems to spell hypocrisy.

The consequences of this dual dishonesty are profound. It erodes trust between communities, fuels resentment and distracts from the real work required to build an inclusive economy. It allows some to retreat into narratives of victimhood, while others retreat into narratives of blame. In both cases, accountability is diluted.

South Africa does not need competing myths. It needs an honest reckoning. That reckoning begins with acknowledging that history matters. The structural disadvantages created over centuries cannot be wished away, nor can they be resolved through rhetoric alone.

They require sustained investment in education, deliberate skills development and policies that genuinely broaden economic participation.

But it must also include a clear-eyed recognition that present leadership matters just as much. Governance failures cannot be explained away indefinitely. Corruption is not a legacy issue; it is a contemporary choice.

Economic performance underscores this urgency. South Africa’s growth has averaged below 1.5% annually over the past decade, far below the levels required to meaningfully reduce unemployment and poverty.

The path forward demands a new kind of leadership — one that refuses the comfort of partial truths. It requires business leaders who move beyond tokenism and invest meaningfully in broad-based development. It requires political leaders who prioritise delivery over discourse. And it requires citizens who demand accountability from all sides.

The dishonesty must end because the stakes are far too high. A nation cannot build a shared future on selective memory and convenient narratives. It cannot grow its economy, reduce inequality or restore public trust while its leaders, across racial and institutional lines, cling to versions of the truth that absolve them of responsibility.

South Africa’s history explains so much, but it does not excuse everything. Its present challenges demand more than blame, but they demand deep thought, courage, integrity, political will, ethical leadership and decisive action.

The real question is not who is right in this debate. It is whether the country is prepared to move beyond it.

Until that happens, the cost will not be borne by those engaged in the debate and arguments, but by millions of ordinary people. Over 30-million South Africans living in or near poverty are still waiting for the promise of a just and inclusive society to be fulfilled and a better life for all.

• Nkosana Thobela is the executive director at the BPI Foundation and is writing in his personal capacity.