Former South African President Thabo Mbeki has warned that if we do not address the growing illegality and inequality, we are at risk of protests like the one that toppled  the Arab government a decade ago.

Mbeki, who took over South Africa shortly after Nelson Mandela’s resignation in 1999, criticized President Cyril Ramaphosa’s failure, to live up to his February 10 promise  to reach a comprehensive social consensus to boost economic growth for 100 days. The plan has not yet been announced, and according to Mbeki, absolutely nothing has been done since.

South Africa is struggling with an unemployment rate of 34.5%, the highest among 82 countries in the world tracked by Bloomberg.

The World Inequality Lab, supported by Thomas Piketty, ranks South Africa as the world’s most unequal country with access to asset data. This is the legacy of the apartheid system that has limited economic opportunities for black South Africa, which makes up about four-fifths of the population. Whiteson’s reign ended in 1994.

Mbeki said that if these issues are not addressed, South Africa will have its own version of the so-called Arab Spring, citing what sparked the  first police attack on  street vendors in Tunisia.

Thabo Mbeki, who led South Africa until 2008, led the strongest  economic growth since apartheid, expanded social security, and expanded the black middle class. His rise to the presidency came at the expense of Ramaphosa, who was widely expected to succeed Mandela.

We have already witnessed the anger of hungry and unemployed black people in Johannesburg and KZN during lockdown, it would make things worse and that is the last thing South Africa’s economy needs.