South Africa’s top officials, politicians and business leaders are in Davos, Switzerland – rubbing shoulder and drinking overpriced cocktails with the who’s who of the global elite at the World Economic Forum’s annual get-together.

The gathering itself has been heavily criticised as being out of touch with the reality on the ground. But even so – it does give various countries the opportunity to network and listen to nice lectures through the event.

Fancy events and clever talk aside, what the country faces – is the very real problem / and opportunity of the 4th Industrial Revolution. But what is South Africa going to do about this impending change which is already upon us? How is the country planning to navigate the challenging road ahead?

In this snippet from the SABC – the country’s leaders seem to be making all the right noises at all the right times, but with just three South African billionaires owning as much wealth as the bottom half of the entire population – how in reality can the country grapple with our widening inequality problem and offer the ‘have-nots’ a glimmer of hope for the future? What needs to change systemically for this to be made into a reality?

We personally don’t get a clear sense that their is a plausible plan, but perhaps that plan is the much lauded National Development Plan, which BTW is a very impressive piece of paper – sadly supported by a absence of clear political will for its implementation. It’s also, unfortunately pretty much outdated now and in some serious need of revision.

So the real question then is – who will hold this government to account when it comes to preparing our youth for the future in the 4th Industrial Revolution? Our feeling is that some very direct questions need to be asked of elected officials in this regard.