Lies, damn lies and statistics – Mark Twain’s curse is an SA politician’s staple

If you’re white, it’s easy to be branded as a racist in the modern South Africa. As I discovered during this year’s State of the Nation address when opining that Zuma was playing the race card when stating white households earn five times that of their black counterparts.

The statistics may well be correct. But are equally distorting, supporting a nonsensical idea that all whites are rich and all blacks poor. With a 36% rate of unemployment, simple arithmetic tells you the averages will be heavily impacted for the population group carrying the bulk of these non-earners.

A more relevant statistic would be to measure access to education – something which the politicians can and should be influencing. After two decades of democracy, there has been ample opportunity for the State to implement equal education as its top priority. But there have been more attractive diversions like the Arms Deal and an even more wasteful Nuclear Build project.

If you don’t measure it, you won’t manage it. And for as long as access to education isn’t front and centre, politicians will succumb to the temptation of blasting out misleading statistics to divert responsibility. Little wonder author Mark Twain warned us to be wary of lies, damn lies, and statistics – in that order.

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