21 January 2026
Monde Ndlovu and Jon Foster-Pedley’s article refers (“Why fixing taps will matter more than policy pronouncements”, January 20).
To grasp the challenge of addressing the “implementation gap”, South Africa will need — in addition to the culture and attitudinal shifts contemplated by these authors — a fundamental change in approach to lean on to do this.
“Public servants”, sure, but who else? NGOs maybe? Local businesses, residents and ratepayers? All true, and that means setting aside our “transformational” blinkers, including employment equity, BEE, quotas and all related exclusionary laws that push merit away.
It also means shifting away from the debilitating rhetoric aimed at minorities, businesses and skilled visitors. If we want to get into the gap to fix things, all hands are needed on deck, not the idealism that tries to argue that we “need to do both”.
We either say, “If you’re willing and able, you are in; pass the spanner,” or we keep arguing that we must intentionally keep certain citizens and their skills and their companies out, leaving the job to the unwilling, unskilled or whoever’s left.
A perfect example of this madness is baked into our latest matric results.
About 50,000 pupils in the whole country (including the Independent Examinations Board) got 60% or more for maths, which might get them a place in a Stem programme. But the new employment equity law specifically aims to filter the number from that group able to get company work, when every one of those who graduate should be recruited regardless of any other criteria.
When skills are scarce, you need to protect them. The “implementation gap” ladders to “skills gap”, and that ladders to whose skills we will accept. Either this changes or the malaise continues. It is an uncomfortable but unavoidable point.
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