INTRODUCTION

The Dinokeng Scenario Team acknowledges our long legacy of entrenched inequality,racism, sexism and oppression. It also recognises the significant accomplishments made since 1994. However, there are deep social and economic challenges that face our country, challenges that may degenerate into time bombs unless they are squarely addressed.

This section focuses on the country’s balance sheet: its national “assets” and “liabilities”. We focus on the primary gains we have made, and the primary challenges we still face. It is not our intention to provide a catalogue of every conceivable achievement or failure.

In evaluating the nation’s balance sheet, we are mindful of the heritage of our past. The legacies of the past continue to haunt us: the brutal repression and economic deprivation, the crippling effects of inferior education, poor housing and health services under apartheid; coupled with the hierarchical liberation culture and impact of ‘liberation now, education later’ and ‘making the country ungovernable’. These all carry their imprint on the present. Much still needs to be done to address this legacy, but we must also not allow it to obscure the mistakes we have made in the past 15 years and the critical challenges that these mistakes have yielded.

The Scenario Team poses the following key questions about the future of our country:

How can we as South Africans address our critical challenges before they become time bombs that destroy our accomplishments?

and

What can each one of us do – in our homes, communities and workplaces – to help build a future that lives up to the promise of 1994?