I happen to call at the same State-owned building weekly and I became very disturbed at one stage at the state of disrepair of its infrastructure and the complete absence of upkeep.

Then, just as I was beginning to assume that the escalators had come to a permanent halt and that clean towels would never return to its rest rooms, new leadership was put in place and, in no time at all, the escalators started working again, clean towelling returned to the ablution facilities and the parking area was given a state-of-the-art fillip.

All that got me thinking about the upcoming 54th National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) and the new leadership that this elective conference could spawn.

In the same way as a caring new leadership was able to revive the State-owned building I enter weekly, the correct national leadership could put South Africa back on track relatively quickly.

As organs of State go, this country’s executive is its weakest link by far. Should that be filled by a new caring leadership, there is nothing stopping it from becoming the country’s strongest link.

At one point, that other organ of State, the legislature, seemed hopeless, but, lately, thanks to the widespread fury surrounding the debasing nature of State Capture, it has been showing new promise.

The way members of Parliamentary portfolio committees have interrogated errant State-owned enterprises has given me new hope in the legislature, with live television coverage showing Parliamentarians on both sides of the aisle campaigning vigorously for a better South Africa.

The intensity of the questioning of State officials has shown that South Africa’s Constitution has a lot going for it in the way it facilitates cross-party interrogation when the interests of South African citizens are threatened.

As the judiciary has done such a wonderful job in helping the country through its State Capture crisis, it would be apt for any new leadership to pat the courts on the back – and then devote every drop of energy they have towards boosting the pace of economic growth, which is so urgently needed.

Once economic recovery is set on a sustainable course, it will be incumbent on new leadership to review virtually every aspect of South African life against global best practice, with very special attention being given to youth unemployment.

As outlined in last Friday’s Business Day by South Africa’s Deputy President and ANC presidential hopeful, Cyril Ramaphosa, youth unemployment has reached such challenging levels that all planning and policy development must be viewed through a “youth lens”.

A key ‘new deal’ observation made by Ramaphosa in his excellent article is that South Africa requires a skills revolution to equip its young people with the know-how required to compete successfully in the modern global economy and the unfolding Fourth Industrial Revolution.

He reinforced this message by ending his article with these words: “There can be no new deal for South Africa unless there is a new deal for its youth and children.”

How right he is.