FROM THE
FROM THE
CEO ’ S DESK
This ( eleventh ) edition of The Professional will hit our members ’ in-boxes just ahead of when we will announce our financial results for 2023 . Collective well-being is the theme of this edition . Reflecting on our results , I am again impressed by how a collection of people can work together to enhance their shared prosperity : the staff in their various specialised roles and our members in sharing risks and combining their capital .
After a challenging year in the investment markets in 2022 , 2023 was a much better one , enabling us to declare aboveaverage investment returns . And on the operating side , although underwriting profitability is not yet back to pre-COVID-19 levels , our members should be pleased with our overall results .
On page 8 I share some thoughts on collective well-being . I contemplate how related we all are , from a social perspective , but also biologically ! I ponder how our connectiveness has led to amazing advances in material prosperity , but it should not be at the cost of our well-being . In fact , as our connectiveness and dependence on one another enhances our material prosperity , it can also enhance our happiness .
It is also time that South Africans will go to the polls again . Much has been made that 2024 will be the year in the history of mankind that most people across the globe ( billions ) will be able to vote ( due to elections in populous countries such as Russia , the US and India ). A big theme in the media has also been that democracy worldwide is under threat . And if we look at recent voting statistics in South Africa , there is sympathy for this statement .
The 1994 election saw a voter turnout of around 87 %, whereas the last national and provincial election in 2019 saw only 66 % of registered voters turning up at the ballot box . And this has further dropped to a meager 46 % at the most recent local government elections . But it is not only that many who are registered do not bother to vote ; many do not even bother to register .
At the time of writing , only 27 million South Africans have registered to vote . This means that in a population of over 60 million , of which around two thirds are of voting age , some 14 million have not bothered to register ( yet ), and they are mostly among the youth . Now , people will not register or vote if the dominant idea in their minds is that “ nothing will change ” or “ what good is my vote ?” They will then check out . These numbers show the growing need to restore confidence in the democratic process .
I have recently shared a few thoughts on democracy with our staff , Democracy 101 if you like . First , they should not undervalue the privilege to vote . Many have devoted ( and lost ) their lives for it . If you do not take up at least this citizen responsibility , what right do you have to criticise ? It is not national braai day , it is national voting day !
Then , if you believe a party has a better ability than others to deliver ( and is more in tune than others with your worldview ), vote for them ; and if you have little confidence in a party to deliver , do not vote for them . I hear the non-voters say : But I do not have confidence in any of them !
My counter is : No party is perfect . Just like none of us is perfect . If you are going to wait for a party that gels with your worldview in all respects , you will wait forever . At least vote for the one that is least broken ( in your view ), compared to the rest . Yes , our individual votes might feel like a drop in the ocean . But those drops together make the ocean . Collectively , it can influence . Do we not know this as a mutual society ?
Let us light the braai fire and have fun on voting day after we have taken care of our responsibility as a citizen .
Izak Smit
PPS Group Executive
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