After state capture, South Africa is (f*cked) not in a good place. The system is down. How do we reboot?

We are not the first country to find itself in a difficult spot. China, India, South Korea, Vietnam and many others have gone from being economic basket cases to powerhouses, lifting millions out of poverty. So how can we pick ourselves up and fix things? In this book, Roy Havemann argues that right now we need to focus on six basic ‘E’s: Eskom, Education, Environment, Exports, Ethics, and Equality.

Havemann lays out how we can practically bring in lessons from other countries and learn from their achievements and mistakes, for example, how China, Greece and Colombia solved loadshedding, how different South American countries are dealing with inequality and how Brazil and Kenya are upgrading their education systems.

He shows that we are slowly moving in the right direction. Our own ‘Operation Vulindlela’ delivery unit, which is a joint initiative of the Presidency and the Treasury, is implementing change where it’s needed but more can be done to accelerate reforms to make South Africa a success. Sometimes the solutions to our problems are right here in our very own country – all that is needed is for us to recognise and harness them.

*Foreword by Tito Mboweni

Roy Havemann has consulted to the SA Presidency, the Treasury, the World Bank and private companies among others. After lecturing macroeconomics, Havemann joined the National Treasury in 2002 and rose through the ranks to be head of the Western Cape budget office and Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni’s speechwriter.