One has to wonder if population control, given South Africa's current economic predicament, is something that ought to be considered. If the lack of GDP growth, on the one hand, is exacerbating unemployment the logic solution on the other is to halt growth of the poplation on the other until it is figured out. In my readings attempting to understand how Apartheid era minds worked, I recall Professor Jan L. Sadie, who was an economist and demographer at Stellenbosch University projections had a significant influence on apartheid-era thinking about spatial planning. Sadie's projection was that by 2000 South Africa would need to accommodate 28 million people in the existing and new cities. Sadie concluded that South Africa needed: ➡️ Much faster industrial decentralisation ➡️ Development of economic opportunities outside the existing major metropolitan areas ➡️ Creation of new cities ➡️ A sustained family planning programme to reduce the rate of population growth. It wasn't that he argued that black population growth would threaten minority rule, although I have no doubt it was on their minds too... He knew that if growth continued, the physical geography of South Africa would have to change dramatically as the cities would not be able to accommodate all the people. Sadie's solution was to move economic activity towards the people so that the people didn't have to move closer to cities. Sadie's work highly influenced Verwoerd's political solution at the time. Fast forward to today. The narrative is merely that people don't have access to land, but this is not the whole story. People are urbanising in this manner because they want to be near economic centres. South Africa failed to produce economic activity away from them. Verwoerd is a highly polarising figure today, so these are topics not many want to discuss and while segregation is a topic on it's own, the spatial planning discussed at the time appears to have been right on the money, even if race is excluded from the conversation. In fact, Sadie's projection HIGHLY underestimated the growth of the population, but he wasn't wrong. Many of the issues South Africa faces today stem from RAPID population growth in a country that wasn't developed enough to sustain it. Obviously, South Africa's border problems add to its population pressure, and if the current trajectory continues, this problem will never find a solution as South Africa births itself into oblivion. I have never heard a modern-day politician speak on this subject or how they intend to solve it, because I'm sure that any logical resolution today would be exactly what Sadie suggested and that, in turn, would lead to suggestions of the "rise of the far right". They merely campaign on: We will create jobs. Fast enough to absorb the currently unemployed and new birth rates? I highly doubt that. Your job was to create economies. This is what makes Orania such an interesting project to me. It is taking the concept of the Bantustan homelands but instead of imposing it on others, they are imposing it on themselves as proof of the concept. This post isn't an attempt to suggest anything. Just observations in my self-study of history.

Just finished watching the Business Day interview @USAmbRSA Not sure why so many emotional political statements were made by Hajra Omarjee. It came across as a passive-aggressive interrogation, IMO. This was the highlight. It was the political equivalent of: "I see you and raise you another..."

BBBEE is South Africa's most DESTRUCTIVE and EXCLUSIVE race law. It sounds noble, but words don't equal outcomes. The ANC's uses noble words and intent as a political shield and critics are labeled racist, apartheid apologists and against economic justice. It is the biggest lie sold to their constituents in order to protect the interests of a small connected elite. The true test: 1.) If it truly was about empowerment, criticism should only make the race policy stronger. 2.) If corruption enabled by BBBEE was diverting funds away from the people it was intended to help, then ending BBBEE isn't AGAINST transformation. It BECOMES transformation.

BBBEE doesn't ask whether you are black or white when you pay for electricity, but BBBEE is the reason most can't afford it. BBBEE doesn't ask your race when you have no public transport, but BBBEE is what destroyed it. BBBEE doesn't ask your race when your municipality can't provide water, but it is BBBEE cadre deployment and maladministration that enabled it. BBBEE doesn't ask your race when you can't find a job, but it is BBBEE that destroys business and prevents growth. You see the poor pay for the corruption BBBEE enables the most. And South Africa's poor are disproportionately black citizens. It's ironic how this is branded "empowerment"... When it's the single most destructive policy in South Africa