Socio-economic development in Southern Africa
Mainstream models for socio-economic development in Southern Africa focus on elites, Henning Melber tells Pambazuka News, but if the interests of the majority of the people are to be served, fundamental new approaches are needed.
The following reflections are based on the assumption that the current mainstream model for socio-economic development in Southern Africa is elite oriented and therefore inadequate. To serve the interest of the majority of the people, fundamental new approaches are required. Considering the global challenges, this is not only a task confined to Southern Africa. Given the number of unknown or at least little predictable variables concerning both internal and even more so external dimensions, it borders on reading tealeaves. Local, sub-regional and global dynamics are difficult to predict and not pre-determined.
The following assessment might therefore appear as a kind of ‘wishful thinking’ for how a people-centred development in the region might be promoted. However, visions of this nature are also ingredients to policymaking.
In Namibia, ‘Vision 2030’ was initiated at the turn of the century by President Sam Nujoma to become the guiding document for the country’s development strategy. It diagnosed a very true dilemma the SWAPO government has to reckon with, if it wants to retain its legitimacy and credibility among the electorate, when stating: ‘The goals of the Namibian struggle for Independence were framed in terms of social justice, popular rule and socio-economic transformation, thus the legitimacy of the post apartheid system of governance rests on its ability to deliver transformation or, at any rate, to redirect resources to address the socio-economic causes of poverty and potential conflict. […] Continued prevalence of widespread poverty would, in the eyes of those affected, imply government’s unwillingness to change the status quo, or its inability to improve their economic conditions.’ (Office of the President 2004: 174 and 175).
In line with this conviction, which defines the challenge not only for the Namibian government but also for most former liberation movements when moving into political power, my presentation is motivated and guided by the following goals a strategy should pursue in the Southern African sub-regional context:
- Reduce social inequality and poverty;
- Create meaningful opportunities for employment or work;
- Secure an ecologically sustainable development, which adapts to climate change;
- Provide a maximum of human security for all people in the region through a responsible state and government policy seeking to promote and satisfy basic needs in all spheres of life (including the political domain, based on the values and norms of a democratic culture embracing the full protection and promotion of civil liberties and human rights).
The point of departure is the conclusion that hitherto dominant and largely unquestioned growth based models of economic development and social reproduction become increasingly dubious and come at a far too high price for the majority of the people.
They are also anchored in what could be termed a ‘pact among elites’, transgressing national, regional and continental boundaries. It is a class-based model of accumulation and (self-)enrichment at the expense of the majority of the people. Walter Rodney (1973) showed this in his seminal work The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation in Sweden.
* This is a revised paper presented at the conference Southern Africa 2020 Vision: Public policy priorities for the next decade hosted by The University of Namibia and The University College London.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News.
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