ABOUT 130 Bangladeshis are killed on an average every year in South Africa mostly due to conflict among compatriots as well as conflict with locals. Scores of Bangladeshis, who have gone there for making fortune as promised by human traffickers, engage in crimes amidst widespread unemployment in South Africa, as per local media reports.
In a latest incident, Joinal Abedin of Tangail was killed being shot on May 8 when robbers attacked his grocery shop in New Castle. The essential question which must be asked here is why do so many of our citizens opt out of our homeland for economically greener climes if we are generating so much economic growth in the first place? The answer must then appear logical–either the growth being generated does not trickle down to the bottom–in other words it is unequal, or the growth is of such a sickly or temperamental nature that it can’t sustain itself in the long run.
Either situation means that the current administration is not doing enough to generate sustained growth, and this appears true. We need to spend many more billions of dollars in infrastructural development to generate the level of quality employment which is sufficient to keep our most able and skilled workers in the country. But it seems that we are unable to do so. Corruption is a major part of our mega project implementation, and if an employer has to pay bribes to get anything from gas connections to tax clearance certificates then it is certain that international players, at least, will not be willing to generate Foreign Direct Investment here.
So we will be stuck with mediocre firms who will want the unsuspecting populace to try on adulterated products–hence the recent ruling on the need to remove many brands items from supermarket shelves. If local companies have no problems shoving poison down our throats, it indicates a colossal problem with regulation and the inability of regulatory authorities to keep such miscreants in check.
So what is the ultimate solution? We need transparent, neutral and honest administrators who will think about the nation first instead of thinking of their political or administrative masters.
