By Ryan Fortune
Imagine waking up one morning to find that everything you knew about the world had changed. Your neighbours had moved on, your friends spoke a language you didn’t understand, and the world operated on rules you couldn’t begin to grasp.
This was the fate of Rip Van Winkle, American writer Washington Irving’s hapless character who napped through a revolution. It’s also, alarmingly, the fate of most South Africans today — except instead of snoozing under a tree, we’re scrolling through TikTok, binge-watching Netflix, and blaming the government for our problems while the Digital Revolution unfolds without us.
In Irving’s classic tale, Rip Van Winkle is a man who dodges responsibility, wanders into the mountains, and falls asleep for 20 years. When he wakes up, he finds that the American Revolution has transformed the very fabric of society. Rip, blissfully unaware of the chaos that passed while he snored, becomes a symbol of stagnation in a world of progress.
South Africa is Rip Van Winkle on a national scale. While the rest of the world is coding, innovating, and cashing in on the digital gold rush, we’re too busy “catching up” on outdated debates, stuck in a loop of economic blame games, and letting our brightest minds rot in underfunded universities or flee overseas.
Consider the recent tale of the two Stellenbosch University students who used publicly available data to uncover rampant grant fraud at SASSA. A digital triumph, right? Wrong. Instead of being lauded as heroes, these sharp young minds were dragged before a parliamentary committee of clueless politicians who accused them of being “hackers.” It was as if Rip himself had been summoned from his slumber to deliver the verdict: “Technology is scary, and anyone who understands it must be stopped.”
This reaction is a stark reminder of the wilful ignorance that plagues South Africa. Our leaders, most of whom probably think “the cloud” is where rain comes from, are woefully unprepared for the digital age. Instead of embracing innovation, they fear it. And so, they stifle progress — while the rest of the world surges ahead.
South Africa’s collective slumber has many causes:
A Lack of Vision
Our national obsession with short-term survival blinds us to long-term opportunities. When people are focused on putting food on the table (a valid concern, to be fair), the idea of investing time and effort into understanding blockchain, AI, or SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) feels like a luxury. But here’s the kicker: it’s precisely those technologies that could eliminate the need for such desperate hustling in the first place.
Ageing Leaders with No Clue
Let’s be honest: our political class is more comfortable reminiscing about 1994 than envisioning 2044. They legislate with the urgency of a dial-up connection and approach technology with the curiosity of a brick. Expecting innovation from these quarters is like asking Rip Van Winkle to explain quantum computing.
Fear of Change and Risk
We South Africans are a cautious bunch. Risk is the province of “other people” — Silicon Valley types with money to burn or East Asian entrepreneurs who seemingly never sleep. But here’s the harsh truth: every great revolution requires risk. If you’re too scared to play the game, don’t complain when others win all the prizes.
The cost of sleeping through the Digital Revolution will be catastrophic. While other nations create jobs, wealth, and industries out of thin air — literally, using cloud computing — we’re stuck fighting over scraps. Worse still, we risk becoming even more irrelevant in the global economy. Automation and AI are already rewriting the rules of labour. If we don’t wake up soon, our workforce will be about as useful as Rip’s 18th-century musket in a modern drone strike.
In short, there’s a digital gold rush happening right now, driven by advancements in artificial intelligence, blockchain, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms, and other tech marvels. The barrier to entry has never been lower, and the potential for wealth creation has never been higher.
Yet, instead of grabbing a pickaxe and heading to the digital frontier, most South Africans are at home, glued to the TV, complaining about load-shedding and unemployment. Yes, the government is failing us in many ways. But let me tell you something radical: you don’t need the government to succeed. You need vision, courage, and a Wi-Fi connection.
The Rip Van Winkle analogy might be amusing, but the reality is grim. South Africa cannot afford to sleep through this revolution. The stakes are too high, and the opportunities are too vast to ignore. If you’re ready to stop complaining and start creating, I have just the thing for you.
Starting next Wednesday 11 December, I’ll be hosting a weekly 1-Hour Zoom Masterclass on How to Build Your Own Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Company - the perfect entry point into the digital economy.
No, you don’t need a degree in computer science, a Silicon Valley bank account, or even know how to code.
All you need is the will to learn, the courage to take a risk, and the ambition to succeed.
Sign up today and join the ranks of those who refuse to be left behind.
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Ryan Fortune is a techno-realist who has built over 20 fully featured SaaS web applications without having learned how to code. If you'd like more details of his 1-hour SaaS Masterclass, please contact him via WhatsApp on +27 76 452 3909.
Fortune is a techno-realist who helps businesses adapt to new digital innovations. He can be contacted at https://topmate.io/ ryan_fortune