Unity of purpose essential to beat poverty, inequality

Nelson Mandela's greatest legacy is the leading role he played in forging a united, non-racial democracy, seemingly against all the odds.

But Mandela also knew that uniting South Africans across the race and class divides was not enough. He believed just as passionately in the need to create a more open, inclusive society, in which inequality and poverty would eventually become things of the past.

He knew that, without such a society, the freedoms that were won at the ballot box in April 1994 would ultimately be meaningless to the millions of South Africans whose hopes he and his ANC carried with them.

Nearly 20 years later, South Africa has much to be proud about.

Though we are by no means a prosperous nation, the economy has opened up, and, thanks to excellent financial management, was able to weather the worst of the global financial crisis.

South Africa today has a large, and growing, black middle class, a public service that serves as a major - and benevolent - employer, and workers who routinely achieve above-inflation pay increases because of the power of the unions. Our government has built houses and provided electricity, running water and welfare services to millions.

Though many citizens now enjoy a better life, unemployment, inequality and poverty are still major threats to our young democracy.

We know how to fix these scourges - by expanding the economy to create jobs on an unprecedented scale and by jacking up our ailing education system so that it can equip school-leavers to meet the demands of a competitive workplace.

Fixing the unemployment crisis should be a national imperative in the same way that fighting apartheid was.

Now is the time for organised labour and big business to show unity in helping the government implement job-creation initiatives that will give young people a shot at gaining workplace skills. The politically contested youth wage incentive scheme is a good starting point.