Sandton’s Highveld Forum hosted topical guest speaker Douglas Gibson for their July meeting at Bryanston Country Club.
Gibson boasts 50 years of experience at every level of government in South Africa and he feels optimistic about the elections and the survival of South Africa as a democracy.
“We are not going over a cliff. [This year] is better than 1994. Some of us have forgotten what the past was like,” he said.
He added that Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng had given South Africans new hope with his judgement on Nkandla. “The Constitution is holding, and Mmusi Maimane [leader] of the DA has never been more optimistic about the future of South Africa.”
He did, however, warn about the fact that South Africa had experienced zero growth and there had been a 10-fold increase in strikes. Gibson also warned about the current state of education in South Africa. “Young people leaving school without the skills to equip them to find a job is a waste of human talent,” said Gibson. “The average SA Grade 9 pupil is two years behind Grade 8s in other countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan and Botswana. The SA Democratic Teachers Union needs to be put in its place as our children are suffering.”
He did offer a suggestion on how to help the country’s current status. “The bigger the middle class we have, the more stable the country will be.”
He also indicated that the polls may be signaling the end of one-party domination. “We need to have a strong opposition to keep politicians honest. There are 27 000 voting stations and, like [Nelson] Mandela, we will fight to protect our democracy,” concluded Gibson.
The Sandton Highveld Forum is a group which hosts monthly talks on a wide variety of subjects.
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