After Dawn: Hope After State Capture

by Mcebisi Jonas

In October 2015, the Gupta brothers offered Mcebisi Jonas the position of minister of finance in exchange for R600 million. Then deputy minister of finance, Jonas turned down the bribe and a period of deep introspection followed for him. How did we reach this point, and what did the future hold for South Africa’s democracy and the economy?

In After Dawn, Mcebisi Jonas analyses the crisis at the heart of our current system, which places politics at the centre of policymaking and implementation at the expense of growth. In this important and authoritative book, Jonas first unpacks and analyses the current badlands of the South African economic and political landscape.

In the second half, Jonas proposes a series of workable and practical solutions for transitioning South Africa into a growing, job-creating country including:

Putting inclusive growth at the centre of economic policy; rapidly expanding new technological capacities and knowledge to transition to a twenty-first-century economy; expanding human capabilities at scale; path-changing trade-offs to catalyse the next phase of South Africa’s development; nurturing a corruption-free, high-performance state built on meritocracy and innovation; and changing the nature of politics.

Time is of the essence and the window of opportunity is narrowing for all South Africans to work together towards the South Africa we all imagined was possible in 1994.

Genres: South Africa

327 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 7, 2019

Reviews

[Siba Massey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mcebisi Jonas has excelled in writing a relevant and useful book to guide the progress of South Africa's young democracy. His unequivocal account on the current state of our country's economy is sobering. Yet offers remarkably practical solutions for all South Africans, committed to the holistic growth of their country. I especially enjoyed the call to leverage our country's strengths; and the need to "act on opportunities and opt for innovation, vision, and leadership." Mcebisi Jonas reminds us that the challenge of shepherding our country forward is not one man's job alone. It would be wise for the vast array of South African's to heed the suggestions in After Dawn; for a hope of a better tomorrow.