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Simon Watson’s article on the Mises.co.za Blog begins to articulate for me the fundamental problem with the South African political-economy: The fact that its basic foundation is a constitution built by socialist central planners with socialist ideals.  Hence, chaos is inevitable.

This is fundamental to SA’s problems.  For all the purported need to “right the Apartheid wrongs”, we’ve spent nearly 20 years going in circles.  A system instituted in 1994 of equality before the law would have fostered tremendous prosperity and a true, sustainable, more equitable income distribution.

Alistair Sparks penned an Op-Ed piece in Business Day pointing out that the Marikana disaster was really part of a bigger issue; a political issue, in which the pro- and anti-Zuma factions are fighting their proxy war through the unions and on various other fronts.  I say Sparks is correct, but he still hasn’t identified the much bigger driving force.

And what is that force? It is this: South Africa’s laws and system of “checks and balances” legally sanction looting and plunder by some of others.  South African’s are engaged in one big fight to either become part of the “some”, friendly with the “some”, or arrange their affairs to become a relatively unharmed “other”.

Such a society must keep decaying until total collapse or until the foundational law (in this case, the Constitution) is amended to uphold justice (that is, no favored groups before the law), liberty and peace.