Good evening ladies and gentlemen.
As we sit here today we can admit to having encountered at least one of the following;
– Potholes
– Non functional traffic lights
– Shacks, informal settles
– Beggars on the side of the road
– Request for a bribe by the police
– Frustration at home affairs or the traffic department
In 2014, South Africa is sitting with problems such as;
– Children falling in laterines
– Public figures facing multiple charges of corruption and still holding office, a position of trust
– Families burnt in shacks
– CEOs of governmental companies with bogus qualifications
– And a R240m house built using state funds where it could have built a school.
For the post2015 United Nations development goals, I recommend that good governance in public administration and the use of entrepreneurship as a solution to solving socio-economic problems be considered as development goals.
With regard to good governance in public administration, it is important that I begin by indicating that ruling is not necessarily governance. And we need to educate those who rule of what good governance actually means.
In a public administration setting, governance is concerned with the responsible, transparent and efficient use of scarce resources by public officers. If this one thing is done then a child will not die due to the lack of medication at a public hospital or sit without a text book at a school. It was the former UN Secretary General, Kofi Anan who noted that good governance is the single most important factor in eradicating poverty and promoting development. The governance agenda in my understanding, seeks to address the imbalances caused by improper use of state resources which by the way are funded by people such as yourselves.
With instruments such as the king 3 report and public finance management act we still see the gross misuse of scarce resources particularly by those entrusted to govern over them. These are codes which must be respected and observed. Then we would not see roads untarred, hospitals with inadequate medicines, and schools where children sit for final exams without textbooks.
In going about ensuring good governance practices are adhered to, we could track the number of well functioning schools built, the level of efficiency at public hospitals and government departments, the number of public leaders who are dismissed due to improper and corrupt practices. And lastly, we need an account of the quality of governance decisions about the distribution of resources such as funding to be provided annually.
My next recommendation is the use of entrepreneurship in solving socio-economic challenges. This is Entrepreneurship in its broad sense and included in here is definitely social entrepreneurship as it is precisely focused on social impact. In short as a development goal, entrepreneurship looks to breaking the shackles of a welfare mentality as we have a society heavily reliant on social services.
Entrepreneurship is crucial for development. With an ever rising unemployment figure, the public and private sectors can no longer absorb as many unemployed youth as they used to. Entrepreneurs, I mean start-ups in particular create opportunities for the unemployed, they offer them skills, they bring those considered to be marginalised into the main streams of the economy. The bigger outcome however, is the developing of new markets and reviving of otherwise economically inactive communities.
As a development goal, public institutions need to do more to enable and build the country’s entrepreneurial base this includes business incubation, creation of sustainable businesses, access to finance, as well as facilitating the partnering with local big business to formulate global value chains which broaden the reach of small businesses taking them to the next phase of their development.
To realise the ideal of a better life for all South Africans , the entrepreneurial energies of all our people should be harnessed to ensure that the country’s full potential for economic growth is unleashed. Entrepreneurship makes a significant contribution in this regard and we need to constantly address red tape that seeks to strangle the efforts of entrepreneurs.
The benefits of the development goals which i am proposing are
– An increased standard of living for all South Africans
– An increased ability for South Africa to compete globally
-The creation of our own pioneers such as Mark Shuttleworth, Larry Pages and Steve Jobs
– Children who can spell, originate thought and build a better South Africa not from scraps of a broken one but from a stable, vibrant competitive one.
In the end, we inherit this land from our forebears so it is up to us to ensure that we get a country that encourages entrepreneurship and good governance.
Thank you
