At the recent BizNews Conference in the Drakensberg, one question kept surfacing: is South Africa investable? Rob Hersov has made his position clear, arguing that the country remains deeply problematic for investors. His challenge is uncomfortable. That is precisely why it deserves to be taken seriously.
But I would ask a different question: What would it take for South Africa to become impossible for the world to ignore? The answer may lie in something we achieved 16 years ago.
In 2010, South Africa faced a genuinely do-or-die national challenge: host the best FIFA World Cup ever. There was no room for excuses. The world was coming. Billions would be watching. Billions of rand had been invested. Airports, stadiums, roads, hotels, security and transport had to work.
Failure was not abstract. If South Africa could not deliver, the damage to our reputation, tourism, investment confidence and international standing would have been enormous. So we aligned. Government, business, cities, communities, tourism operators, the media, volunteers and ordinary citizens had a common objective. For once, South Africa was not consumed by what was wrong with the country. We were focused on what we had to make right.
And we delivered. The 2010 World Cup did more than fill stadiums. It changed perceptions. As a result, we co-created more than three million jobs in the six years running up to 2010, and ever since tourism has become South Africa’s greatest job creator and has doubled employment in the sector since 2010.
So where is our next World Cup? South Africa does not need another tournament. It needs a challenge big enough to force us to become investable. Because the world is not waiting for South Africa. Capital can go elsewhere. Companies can locate elsewhere. Tourists can travel elsewhere. Technology can be developed elsewhere. Global talent can work elsewhere. And our own young people can increasingly choose to build their futures elsewhere.
That is the race we are in. And the stakes could hardly be higher. In the first quarter of 2026, 4.7-million South Africans aged 15 to 34 were unemployed, while another 10.6-million were outside the labour force. In the second quarter, the country's overall unemployment rate rose to 33.6%.
South Africa 2030: win the race for the Future
The objective should be simple enough for every South African to understand and ambitious enough to demand collective action: By 31 December 2030, South Africa must become a world class destination for investment, talent, tourism and enterprise. Not because we have marketed ourselves better. Because we have become better.
We should establish a national scoreboard and publish it regularly, measuring whether we are winning in six areas:
- Investment: Are we attracting and retaining more domestic and international capital?
- Talent: Are we retaining South African talent while attracting talent from the rest of the world?
- Jobs and opportunity: Are we turning our young population from a demographic challenge into an economic advantage?
- Tourism: Can we reach 15-million international visitors — and turn visitors into investors, customers and ambassadors?
- Enterprise: Are we becoming a place where entrepreneurs can start, grow and scale globally competitive businesses?
- Delivery: Are energy, logistics, infrastructure, public institutions and the rule of law becoming competitive enough to support the economy we want?
Government cannot do this alone.
Nor can business, universities, civil society, churches or communities. Each has a role — and each should be held accountable for playing it. That was the power of 2010.
The CEO should ask: What can my company do? The university vice-chancellor: What talent are we producing? The investor: What can I build here? The church and community leader: How can I mobilise the people around me? Young South Africans: What can I contribute — and what future do I want to build here? And government must ask the most important question of all: What are we doing that is getting in the way?
This is also where the investment debate needs to change. The question is not simply: Is South Africa investable today? The more important question is: What must South Africa achieve by 2030 to make that question irrelevant? Because if we fail to become competitive, the world will not punish us with a red card. It will simply move on. That is the real consequence.
In 2010, if we failed to deliver, the World Cup could have been taken away from us. In 2030, nobody needs to take anything away. The capital, talent, investment, tourists and opportunities we need can simply go somewhere else.
That is why South Africa needs a second World Cup. Not another sporting tournament. A national challenge. But a challenge needs more than a slogan. It needs a starting gun, a scoreboard and people willing to be held accountable for the result.
So here is the call to action: let business, government and civil society convene a South Africa 2030 compact before the end of this year. Set six measurable national targets. Publish the baseline. Assign owners. Report progress publicly every quarter. And where government, regulation or institutional failure is holding us back, name the obstacle and remove it.
Every CEO, university leader, investor, entrepreneur, community organisation and young South African should be able to answer one question: What am I doing to help South Africa win this race?
In 2010, we united to host the world. By 2030, we need to unite to win the future. That may be the most important lesson of the World Cup we have yet to learn: A nation does not change when everyone agrees on what is wrong. It changes when enough people agree on what they are determined to achieve — and understand what will be lost if they fail.
The clock is already running. South Africa 2030. Win the race for the future — or watch the future go somewhere else.
Dr Nik Eberl is the founder and executive chair: The Future of Jobs Summit™ (Official T20 Side Event). He is also the author of Nation of Champions: How South Africa won the World Cup of Destination Branding).
**The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Media Group.