I must admit: I too had to reread the headline. If, like me, you need reminding, a buttress is an architectural exterior support or structure of masonry that is built against, or serves to support or reinforce, a wall. In essence, it serves to support a wall when it shows signs of cracking or collapse. There are five types of buttresses: angle buttress, clasping or clamped buttress, diagonal or ‘French’ buttress, flying buttress, and setback buttress.

With the general elections now behind us, the South African government’s attention needs to swiftly shift to the catalyst of prosperity for its people – the economy. You do not need to be an expert to know that the economy is in a bad state – a very bad state. You also need not be a specialist to know that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank’s ‘across the counter’ generic ‘economic medicine’ will not work.

It is time for government to appreciate that charity begins at home. Are you in any doubt? Then consider the standard airline safety instructions, specifically the one about the use of oxygen masks. It clearly specifies that you should first fit your own oxygen mask before assisting others.

It is time for government to put the needs of its people first, which implies that it is time government placed economic growth at the front and centre; anything else is just wasting time.

The answer to South Africa’s economic growth cannot be found in the country’s past. South Africa is a very different country from what it was in 1994. Reality check: the South African economy is no longer the largest on the continent, and even the semantics of its being the “most diversified economy on the continent” are wearing a bit thin.

The greatest challenge to the South African economy at present is quite well known – South Africa’s people need employment. They need to regain their dignity, their purpose. But then South Africans do not need just any employment; they need sustainable employment. This is employment that is not maintained through tax incentives.

The challenge facing the South African government is that post-democracy wealth accumulation simply cannot create employment. It simply served no wider economic redistribution purpose. Whether this was intentional is quite another matter.

So, how will South Africa create employment? ‘Investment’ is often cited as a one-word answer to this question. But this is not quite true; employment should be created through both domestic and foreign investment. Yes, not through foreign investment alone.

Why would a foreigner invest in South Africa when South Africans themselves tend to be reluctant to do so? If it is left to foreign investors only to invest in this country, they tend to demand a very high return on their investment.

As a consequence, this raises concerns about the type of foreign investors that South Africa would be attracting. If South Africa is perceived to be a high-risk investment destination, then one would assume that investors would only be enticed by either high returns or guaranteed returns. For both of these, the expectation would be that the employment created would be unsustainable.

I fear that we are placing too much emphasis on talking about employment, without quite understanding why we need employment – to what end, and for what purpose? Is the intention to generate a source of revenue for the government or to make the people self-sufficient or self reliant, thus requiring no government support?

The South African government needs to understand why it needs employment and what types of employment should be created. Then, and only then, can government confidently devise an employment strategy.