By Steuart Pennington

Good one Mr President, but when will you grasp the global competitiveness nettle?

Tender-handed stroke a nettle
And it stings you for your pains
Grasp it like a man of mettle
And it soft as silk remains

Aaron Hill 1750

Most commentators have lauded the State of the Nation address. Mondli Makhanya of the Sunday Times said, this was by far the best performance of his tenure…but it failed to properly deal with the biggest catastrophe facing this nation, an education system that is still producing ill-equipped citizens. I agree.

Lindiwe Mazibuko of the DA, more critical, said, the government has extensive programmes, the nation faces many trials, and our people have boundless potential – it is difficult to outline all of this in one evening as part of a consolidated vision…but what our country needed was an honest assessment and a plan of action to address it. I agree.

But both Makhanya and Mazibuko themselves don’t grasp the nettle of the importance of South Africa’s challenge in improving its Global Competitiveness ranking out of 142 countries. Neither of them mentioned it.

We know that the President’s speech focused on infrastructure improvement and the re-industrialisation of South Africa to facilitate economic activity, skills development and job creation, and that the majority of his critics focussed on what he left out or how he was preparing for Mangaung.

No mention was made by any commentator that I have read of the importance of improving our global competitiveness.

Why not?