Economic indaba must have highest priority

Sunday Times Editorial: THE new year promises to be an eventful one for South Africa. Not least because the country's ruling party, and Africa's oldest liberation movement, will be celebrating 100 years of existence.

The ANC's centenary celebrations are likely to, once again, put South Africa under the international spotlight as most of the world that helped us achieve a successful and peaceful transition to democracy will no doubt be assessing progress made over the past 17 years.

Although the celebrations are largely a party political affair, they are of great significance to South Africans across the board.

The formation of the ANC, known as the South African Native National Congress, in 1912 laid as much of the foundation for the united country we call South Africa today as the 1910 establishment of the Union of South Africa.

But 2012 is also significant for many other reasons.

At the end of the year, the ANC will hold its elective national conference, which will probably decide who will lead the country beyond the 2014 general elections.

The jostling for positions has already begun, with various factions within the ANC informally lobbying for their favourite candidates.

Important as the 100th birthday celebrations and the leadership succession battles are, these should not overshadow the many pressing challenges confronting our country as we enter our 18th year as a free, democratic and nonracial republic.

High unemployment rates - especially among township and rural youth - escalating poverty levels, as well as rising inequality, remain the greatest threats to South Africa's future stability and prosperity.

By the end of 2011, there seemed to be growing consensus within government, organised labour, business and political parties over the need for a special economic Indaba - some call it an economic Codesa - to map out a common agenda of effectively addressing these issues.

With the global economic climate continuing to be uncertain and the country's poor communities increasingly restless, the convening of such an indaba should be seen as of high priority.

Hyperbole was a dominant feature of political and economic debates last year, resulting in parties often speaking past each other and contributing little towards making ours a successful state.

With key elective conferences, especially within the ANC-led alliance coming, the temptation to score cheap political points through empty rhetoric will likely be too great for many politicians to resist. What is most important, however, is that such politicking does not hinder a proper national dialogue over what must be done to liberate more of our compatriots from the yoke of poverty and unemployment.