Mbeki warns of growing role for private sector amid government failures

Capetown – Former President Thabo Mbeki expressed concern that the private sector could step in to provide services that government failed to provide.

According to SABC NewsMbeki was speaking at the annual conference of the South African Public Administration and Management Association in Ekurhuleni, on the East Rand.

He drew attention to the growing discrepancy between citizens and the authorities.

Mbeki highlighted the successes of the private sector in solving problems despite the lack of government action and warned that this trend posed a direct threat to South Africa’s democratic state and the well-being of its citizens.

“We have a weakening state, a loss of authority and credibility, an inability to translate plans into action, and a growing disconnect between the ruling elite and those governed. And therein lies South Africa’s greatest opportunity for the future – in its innovative and resilient private sector and civil society, which solve problems in the face of the increasing absence of the state, and do so effectively.

“In the coming years, South Africa will become a case study in how private initiative succeeds where states fail. In political science, this is called counter-revolution, and counter-revolution is not innocent, but in our case, it is a direct threat to our democratic state and the well-being and prosperity of millions of our people,” Mbeki said, delivering a virtual speech at the event.

The conference, titled “Repositioning African Governments in the Face of Changing Global Order and Disorder,” aimed to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing African governments in today’s rapidly changing global landscape.

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Prepared by Betha Madhomu