South Africa's 21st Century Mental Block

Simple minds, makes life complicated, complex minds, make life invaluable

A competent mind expects nothing less than the best, its only an incompetent mind who is striving to achieve their best or not willing to benefit from acquiring it

Considering the previous illustrations of having a World-class Country, in its potential, with a living world-class constitution, laws, environments, people, research, infrastructure, technology & literature, in comparison to 2nd & 3rd world mindsets & environments

It is critical to understand the impact of expert knowledge & its application to deliver basic necessities in general life & how to optimize world-class innovation in executing strategy, to real world, lived experiences

If we are not dealing with the best, we may only suffer & struggle, with all the rest

Human beings are only as intelligent as their ability to achieve their common-sense, common-cause & human consciousness, whether they have been educated or not, & only excel or achieve excellence when they apply their hearts & souls, to either, their competence level or moving exponentially, in the direction of incompetence to a competent state, in the manner they learn by themselves & who they choose to learn from

To understand the 21st Century Mental Block, we must understand the reasons why it occurs

Incompetent leaders will either not understand the knowledge, competent leaders are sharing, or understand its value or the impending threat they are facing by their actions or decision making processes or feel threatened by them in their entirety & not heed the competent warnings, of the disastrous consequences they are heading towards or experiencing

Incompetent people who have no ambition to learn or excel, will struggle to demonstrate their affinity, passion or the love of what they do or justify the trust placed in their ability to act in good faith, to mitigate negative performance levels or increase productivity to meet or exceed expectations, in their particular role or area of responsibility

Considering that simple minds makes life complicated, it will prove incredibly difficult for them to achieve the basic outputs in their execution, as achieving what is fair, right & just, will either be untenable or make absolute no sense, which will highlight their lack of performance or a blame game or an untold list of excuses or abuses of power, rules & laws in achieving a simple result

To understand South Africa's 21st Century Mental Block, is to begin to understand the cause & effects of employing unqualified, unskilled & ill-disciplined people, in key or senior roles in the core or critical areas of all spheres of government, business & civil society

When we abandon talent, skills & merit, we entrench ourselves in mediocre performances, moving from bad to worse

When we add unqualified, unskilled & ill-disciplined people to the formula, who display arrogance, ignorance & corruption in their behaviour 

We see the effects of a natural destruction of a Worldclass Constitution, Institutions, Infrastructure, Research, Technology, People & Country

It naturally negates innovation, technological advancements, expert knowledge, work & experience, to include isolating talent, skilled & merited individuals, people, organisations & its affiliated institutions

A mindset gripped by political motivation instead of expertise, talent or skills, to meet or exceed its set objectives, given the opportunity it has to excel, in optimizing its resources, capital & infrastructure, in a natural civil order, discipline & excellence, will either create it's own strife, suffering & struggle, in the problems it creates for itself, which it can't fix by itself or becomes an enormously expensive exercise in capital, time & resources, to move from decline to stability & then from stable to prosperity

A country like South Africa, who has lived through 300 years of innovation, regardless of its political indoctrination or scenarios, throughout its history, is salvageable over the short term, as outdated technology, design & processes can be remodeled or replaced over the term by applying the appropriate talent, skills & merit with its necessary, prudently monitored & evaluated capital, to create opportunity & restore its underlying utilities to its natural performance excellence levels, experienced before the brain drain of 700 000 aptly qualified, skilled & merited citizens, who left our shores & may possibly return with newly found international business experience

To unpack its political motivation, we must begin to understand its influences, what is being omitted from its strategy & execution, to include the misnomer of an inherited Third World Culture, versus the lived experience of First World Standards

Throughout South Africa's 300 years of innovation, those who had superior knowledge, access, technology, research, infrastructure & literature, who were both able & capable of delivering measurable contributions, even if it, South Africa, was isolated internationally, during its period of human segregation of skills, knowledge exchange & trade, brought about by apartheid & subsequently struggled to enhance it & flourish at their inherit global level

As illustrated above, the difference between a competent mind & that of incompetence, is education or a process of learning

Because, South Africa inherited many different nations, cultures, customs, knowledge, traditions & languages, from the settlers by ship & the settlers by land, language & knowledge, would be seen as an identifier or difference of a people, who are protecting & preserving their born heritage or identity

Till today, those who educate themselves in the International Medium of Business English & its supporting knowledge to be competent, in a particular discipline within the economy, are seen by those who choose to exist in a more traditional sense, whether by a 2nd or 3rd world standard, see, the newly competent individual as a traitor or deserter to their culture, customs & traditions

When we apply the World-class standards of South Africa's Constitution, Bill of Rights & its 60 year old Freedom Charter, every human being is equal before the law, in their basic human needs, rights & dignity

Thus every South African has the infinite ability to choose, whether they prefer a traditional lifestyle according to their culture, in the form of a hunter & gatherer mindset, which was prevalent in SA more than 300 years ago & in the homelands created for the chiefs & kings of their people, to accommodate them under traditional law, but as equals before the ruling South African law & its supporting constitutional values

People who chose to live a 2nd & 3rd world lifestyle, were afforded such environments or communities & settlements, whereas those who were Free Citizens, like the elite, royalty, nobility, educated, status orientated, wealthy & ordinary citizens, had the preference of living with their people or in mixed nation communities formed over a period of 252 years before the 48 year apartheid, in its 300 year old history of Colonial Settlers & after the 100 year old Zulu Empire, before then

Traditional tribal lifestyles has its benefits, for the purposes of environmental sustainability, with its indigenous knowledge, in examples of farming in all its forms, wildlife conservation, cultural preservation, traditional cures, medicines & spiritual practices, off grid living or as a natural balance between nature & innovation, a movement found in First World Countries of today, to balance our human nature, with its natural environment & technological advances, including its influences on our human psyche, performance, productivity, sustainability, climate change & civil harmony

South Africa is naturally blessed with talent, skills & merit, but when it only sees the worst examples of people at decision making level, as the face of an organisation or the people pulling the strings in the back-end or perhaps people who are unqualified, unskilled & ill-disciplined, prospering without delivering basic services or aiding their families, communities, common man or citizen in the streets

It lowers the morale of the ordinary citizen, dampens the ambitions of those who are committed, to fixing their mistakes or poor decision making of the past or the inherited poor decisions made for them, it also makes those who have the greater-good of their country at spirit or at heart, think twice & naturally, negates any positive contribution to be made by those who seek to protect, preserve & enhance their name, work & reputation in the contribution they make in an official or unofficial capacity or in the manner they work, live & play together interdependently & collectively as equals

When we remove the inherited, ill-informed political history of SA, restore the basic human needs, rights & dignity of all equal South African Human Beings, in a fair, right & just manner & ensure the appropriately talented, skilled & merited individuals or collection of people, organisations & institutions, are leading from any position in society

It will allow SA to make an exponential paradigm shift from the imbalances created of poor knowledge adopted about its history, to cure, fix & rehabilitate its problems of the present & move in a stabilized fashion in the direction of achieving its true potential as a country who was once, a highly respected, revered & welcomed, international participant for its civil contributions made in its own country, its immediate Southern Neighbours in Africa, Africa at large & the planet

1 only has to observe SA in the 60's when it's currency was superior to the Dollar & Pound during isolation, then trading around R3,50 to the Dollar at 1994, growing at a steady pace of 3%, it was outperforming some of its immediate South neighbours in Africa & largely North Africa, whilst seen as a vital gateway into the rest of Africa for the next phase of Global Economic Growth, viewed by Global Bodies to carry the much needed Global Growth & Developmental Objectives needed in the 21st Century

We may also observe the exponential success of other worldclass & talented South Africans in either Global Brands or Empires they have created for themselves in more developed economies, who invest in the appropriately talented, skilled & qualified people, regardless of their political affiliation, naturalisation or nationality, as a deterrent to their net positive economic contribution & output of their country

To measure SA's underperformance, it has slipped to 2nd place on the African continent, whilst its immediate Southern Neighbours are comfortably achieving 5 to 7% GDP growth, with a mean average of 5% for Africa as a continental collective & slipping behind many other International, African & Domestic barometers of its performance indicators, hovering above 1% GDP output

When we consider that corruption is not only the looting of state, business & civil society coffers, it is also the appointment of suitably unqualified, unskilled & ill-disciplined people, in roles to redress the politically ill-informed

It goes without saying that SA can't use a political blame game, a slowing world economy, when it was identified as a pivotal gateway to Africa's mean GDP growth of 5% & it has already naturalised 350 000 repatriated fellow South Africans, with International business experience, mostly into the Private Sector, Civil Society & the creation of their own businesses & subsequent job creation

SA can only be considered its own biggest enemy, when it shuns innocent, law obeying citizens who do a fair, good, great, best, excellent or an extraordinary contribution, an honest day's job or added value, whilst it struggles to instill civil order & discipline in those who are either seeking to milk what it has built over the past 300 years, whilst either just maintaining or destroying it, even when it attempts to be innovative, forward thinking or developmental, it struggles to maintain the momentum, its creation or ambition, because it fails dismally at ensuring that the basics are in place, bringing down its foundation & adding no economic or social value

The current state of SA is best explained as dedicating its now limited & declining resources & talent to mop up 1 mess to another created in the new 21 year Democratic Dispensation & to fix the basics needed to create its necessary stability, often at high costs to replace poor infrastructure & decision making, incomplete work or innovation which could not materialise without the appropriately qualified, skilled & merited people, organisations & institutions

A true reflection of a back to basics work ethic, whilst it struggles to empower more than 60% of its youth under the age of 35 to stabilize its economy & growth trajectory needed for its next phase of development in the 21st Century of human consciousness, common-sense, common-cause, growth & prosperity

If the 20th Century has taught South Africa anything, is that human integration in business & society based on talent, skills & merit has proven to be its most successful formula of human prosperity, whereas living or working with people who have the same type of mindset, background, political beliefs, culture, custom, tradition, religion, faith or any other denomination

Will not only limit its ability to grow aptly, both in developed & underdeveloped economies found in the difference between urban, semi-rural & rural areas, but it will automatically isolate itself in knowledge, skills & trade exchange for its immediate, short, medium & long term objectives

It is evident in SA's history that it has the capacity to create its own sustainability witnessed during its 48 year international Isolation found during Apartheid, where it could only rely on its domestic output creating much needed employment for all citizens based on their knowledge & skill levels, basics services worked well & the cost of living was affordable in terms of the Rand value earned & an individual's affordability of basic necessities & luxury items

It is also clear that post 1994, at the start of the 21 year Democratic Dispensation, the collective political will, goodwill, financial, economic & social endeavour of previously divided parties were in harmony for the greater good of the country's immediate needs, to include its strategy & much needed execution of delivering at all levels of business, government & civil society, to implement its basic necessities in order to form the foundation needed for developmental, innovative & constructive elements needed, to continue its inherited legacy of worldclass standards, excellence & directive

With all things considered, SA's imperative would be to focus its energy, resources, capital & will, to curb & stop its rampant crime, corruption & decline, which was experienced before the advent of Apartheid, a system however wrong it was for human integration, was designed to instil civil order for the criminals & civil disobedience of the slaves, but not for the ordinary Free Citizens who were innocent & law obeying, found in the 60 Year Old Freedom Charter during apartheid

A poor attitude, character or knowledge of the past, present & future, will not only be destructive to the individual, but will also include everyone they have influence over & mislead them in the process, whilst failing dismally at the basics, unconscious to the calibre & quality of resources & talent it has access to & see no sense or value in achieving what is fair, right & just for all, giving leeway to criminals & civil disobedient slaves, to run a mock on its economic, social & goodwill objectives

Without South Africa's talented, skilled & merited people, organisations & institutions, will struggle to attain or move exponentially towards its stability, growth & prosperity, leaving it exposed to an inherited poor mentality gained from an ill-informed attitude, behaviour & character, displayed domestically & internationally

Before apartheid, criminals & civil disobedient slaves were observed as particular race groups, today, the criminals & civil disobedient slaves, have no colour, because every innocent & law obeying South African citizen is equal in their basic human needs, rights & dignity

Meritocracy leads South Africa to prosperity & corruption takes everyone back to basics, eroding what it had built together over 3 hundred decades before, our present day

Education cures the past, present & future of every common-sensed, common-caused & human conscious, equal South African Human Being in their political, business, social & goodwill for the greater-good of their country & its natural economic & social justice for all

South Africa's Worldclass Constitution is designed to protect, preserve & elevate every innocent & law obeying, equal South African citizen from the beggar in the streets, to the lamen doing odd jobs, to the professionals & corporate citizens, name, work & reputation in their domestic & international capacity

It is a natural cure & remedy for the present day, lived reality, with its suitably qualified, skilled & merited, citizens across the board & its boarders, to achieve what is naturally fair, right & just in the 21st Century of Human Consciousness

South Africa can comfortably reach 7% GDP growth to return its natural status of an African powerhouse on the continent, by shifting its 20th Century poor mentality, into realising its 21st Century in a Worldclass Country, balancing innovation & nature