The University of Johannesburg (UJ) on Thursday announced it would confer an Honorary Doctorate in Economics on French economist and global thought leader on poverty and inequality, Professor Thomas Piketty, who will present the 13th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture at the university on 3 October.
Welcoming Piketty to South Africa at a press conference at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton, UJ Vice-Chancellor Professor Ihron Rensburg said the university was extremely grateful that he had agreed to accept.
“Professor Piketty’s work is well known and UJ simply wants to acknowledge the contribution he has made in improving knowledge around poverty and inequality.”
Chairperson of the Nelson Mandela Foundation Board, Professor Njabulo Ndebele, said it is an honour and pleasure for the Foundation to host Piketty for the annual lecture and a series of dialogues in South Africa.
The acclaimed economist made light of his delayed arrival a day earlier, owing to passport problems, by jokingly telling gathered media and guests that he was glad to finally be here.
“Let me say how sorry I am not to have been there yesterday in Cape Town. I thought French bureaucracy was the worst in the world, until I went up against South African bureaucracy.”
Piketty, who described being at the Nelson Mandela Foundation as a very moving experience, said he was in South Africa to learn, not to give lessons.
“Did the post-apartheid government do enough to end inequality? Going from a system in which inequality was so deeply entrenched … no other country has inherited similar levels of inequality.”
He said while the South African experience cannot really be compared to other countries, if it had to be, some countries have done more than South Africa to address inequality – sometimes peacefully, sometimes not.
If seen in the European context, inequality has been successfully reduced through measures such as minimum wage levels, wealth taxation, and land redistribution and reform.
Twenty-one years into democracy, Piketty said, the same attempts cannot be seen in South Africa.
“The level of inequality is probably even higher than 25 years ago – due to some factors outside of the government’s control, but others not.
“I’m not saying it is simple, but history has shown that it can be done.”
Piketty said South Africa could benefit from greater transparency around income and wealth concentration; and tools such as a national minimum wage, if set at the correct levels, an annual wealth tax (initially set a very low rate) and land reform, in conjunction with policies to address investment in skills.
Piketty went on to say that while total equality will never be achieved – and is not entirely necessary, because an economy requires a level of inequality to promote growth – extreme inequality such as that in South Africa is detrimental to growth.
“The view of ‘we cannot afford to reduce inequality because we need to grow’ is wrong.”
The press conference ended with Professor Ndebele presenting Piketty with a gift of several books about Nelson Mandela, among which were translations of Madiba’s works, whereafter the economist left to address academics and staff at the University of Witwatersrand on “Inequality in SA. What is to be done?”
Professor Njabulo Ndebele presents Thomas Piketty with a gift of several books about Nelson Mandela