'We are divided' - SA is a nation in formation, says Tito Mboweni

Former finance minister Tito Mboweni sparked debate on Sunday after he weighed in on former president Thabo Mbeki’s address at an ANC event in Free State, saying SA is not yet a nation, but rather a nation in formation.

“I heard [former] president Mbeki speaking somewhere about a nation. He is wrong. We are not yet a nation but a nation in formation. We are still divided. We might occupy the same geographic location. Nation, nope. I am willing to debate this,” he tweeted. 

He said his disagreement with Mbeki was that South Africans did not share the same national sentiments, despite in some cases sharing the same geographical location, flag and sporting teams.

TimesLIVE has reached out to the former minister for comment on his claims, but he had not responded by the time of publishing this article. It will be updated once comment is received.  

On Saturday Mbeki engaged ANC members in an effort to forge unity and renewal in the ruling party before its elective conference later this year.

The former president addressed several issues that affect South Africans, including internal factions in the ruling party, high levels of crime and unemployment, lawlessness and corruption.

Mbeki said the ills facing South Africans, including gender-based violence, would not be resolved by issuing militant statements. He said the party needed to get its house in order and must couple words with actions.

“The fact that we make militant statements is not a solution. Militant statements must be made, but they must produce results so we can see these figures going down, but they will not go down if the ANC does not sort itself out,” he said. 

Mbeki criticised senior members of the ruling party for touting themselves for leadership positions before the December elective conference, saying they were preoccupied with this at the expense of “national tasks”. 

He said there were ongoing discussions between the ANC leadership and social partners regarding efforts to tackle unemployment. 

“Social partners started talking in 2020, partly pushed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The business sector produced a detailed plan of action and undertook that businesses would invest R1-trillion over three years,” he said.

Mbeki applauded initiatives from the private sector, saying SA had struggled for years with businesses that were reluctant to invest in the economy because they were unsure about the future of the country.