Tackling social impact issues: the need to coordinate
By Valerie
Since returning, everyone wants to hear about my experiences while in South Africa. When I share my impressions of the major divide that I saw in country, the response from everyone – friends, family, colleagues, and classmates – has been overwhelmingly been the same: “well, is that really any different than what we see in the states?”
My answer to this continues to be a very strong yes. The gap between those with wealth and those who do not have wealth is more severe in South Africa. However, while my answer to this question is yes, I find myself hesitating, because while there might be a difference in magnitude, the sentiment may not be all that different.
Similar to in the US, there is a strong correlation between race and poverty in South Africa. Additionally, both countries have complex histories of racism that have contributed to the challenges in the countries today regarding race and poverty. As a result, I find myself wondering, is the major difference in the magnitude of the divide in the two countries largely attributed to the fact that apartheid occurred so much more recently than the US’s history with slavery?
When I think this way, it can be very discouraging, because if this is the case, then South Africa is looking down a very tough road, of hundreds of years of unwinding from the challenges created by such a tragic history. As I reflect on this question, I am trying to remain hopeful. Despite the fact that there is strong evidence that there are still major issues of racism in South Africa, I am hopeful that South Africa can recover from the challenges created by colonialism and apartheid more quickly than the US has recovered from its challenges and perhaps, South Africa can learn from the mistakes that have been made in the US.
Reflecting on the business visits that we went on brings me hope, as in just a short five days, we were able to see such strong examples of both the private and public sector working to directly address some of the issues of inclusion and access to education, electricity, and healthcare. However, I continue to be struck by how many issues the country is working to address, the magnitude of these issues, and how diverse the issues are. While issues of education, health, electricity, and inclusion are all connected, each issue is individually quite complicated. The fact that these issues are all manifesting in communities concurrently also creates a whole additional layer of complexity. ‘
This challenge is also something that the US faces. Issues of socioeconomic status, healthcare, and housing stability regularly come up when discussing how to reduce the achievement gap that exists in education between urban people of color and white suburban students. However, when policy makers work to address these issues, they are often work in silos, which results in only slowly chipping away at the root causes and challenges that people in poor communities are facing.
Given that the social impact issues in South Africa are also multifaceted, span multiple industries, but are fundamentally intertwined by nature, I am left wondering whether there is a way for the country to more effectively coordinate the efforts. For example, is there a way for businesses in the power industry to directly collaborate with educators, and health care providers to create solutions that support improving a community’s trajectory holistically? And if so, would this more quickly and directly address the fundamentally divide that exists in the country?