Twenty years into democratic South Africa I would have believed that much of our inequality and economic imbalances could have been thoroughly confronted. One may have hoped that notions of reconstruction and development, of shared growth and of apex priorities would have had us on a path to real and meaningful inclusion for all people in South Africa today. I certainly did.

Some have weakly argued that today our lack of meaningful progress stems all the way back to the way that Nelson Mandela handled negotiations toward democracy, and the concessions he made for the protection of mostly white capital.

It is true that today inequality still follows that clear divide. But what President Mandela saw then and what he worked to foster was that business and employers have to feel that they have a future in South Africa, in order to stay invested and to keep creating jobs in South Africa. The converse was a sure path to devastation for our nation.

The failing of the past twenty years has been to not build an inclusive economy in which all people have access and the skills to compete for success. Instead, we have seen a turn in attitude from a government that works to grow the pie, to a government that works to own the pie.

The pie analogy is convenient, because at the root of any good pie is a filling of delicious bounty that the average eater wants to get to fast. But there is a pastry crust to get through first. In many ways, that crust is like government. It keeps the filling in shape, keeps it accessible, but must be strong enough to hold the economic pie together, and to grow it while it bakes.

When, however, the government turns from this, and instead seeks to own the pie, it stops others getting in, kills the incentive to participate, halts growth and allows nothing to trickle-down to those working for their place of economic inclusion. In short, government then becomes a stale, inedible crust.

And so a government committed to owning the pie is one that very deliberately creates insiders and outsiders. It allows in those who it favours, who favour it and who are closely enough connected to it. Individuals of allegiance are prized over individuals of talent and merit. And those who do not present the requisite credentials are left outside, and denied so many meaningful opportunities.

The culture of insiders and outsiders is ever present in South Africa today. We see the ANC closing in on the economy and the state today, and surrounding it with their own.

We see ANC ministers who plainly have conflicts of interests, with businesses interests in companies that could be receiving government contracts. The playing field is so skewed to ordinary South Africans when the governing elites are themselves benefiting from businesses outside government. And this only reinforces the divide between insiders and outsiders.

With this we see those in government getting richer and richer, and we see the gap getting bigger between those who struggle each day to get ahead, and those who serve in politics while leveraging massive businesses interests too.

This is not a new trend for the ANC, though. It was an ANC policy post-1994 that ANC comrades should be deployed into major business opportunities, and so it was done. Many became obscenely rich, and again simply reinforced the divide between insiders and outsiders.

The fact is that our governing representatives should be servants of the people, not elites on a gravy train to luxury. This week I happened to follow Minister Fikile Mbalula on Instagram, and I was shocked to see the level of opulence he proudly broadcasts to South Africa.

He is an insider, with a top post in government. He is, in a sense, in the highest service of the people of South Africa. Yet private jets, Brazilian getaways and champagne frivolity snaps only make the divide even more pointed. Minister Mbalula is of the rich governing elites, far, far removed from the struggles of real people on the ground. And far, far removed from living a life of service.

It all speaks directly to the life of an insider; excluding all others.

Parliament has just passed a new code of executive member’s ethics, to limit the unethical behaviour of members of Cabinet. I certainly welcome this. It precludes Members from doing business with the state, which is an admirable move.

Of course, the best way to do this effectively is through a law that says members may not do business with the state, rather than an ethics code. In this respect, I do wish the government had taken a leaf out of the Western Cape book, where Helen Zille has stopped all members and officials doing business with the Province, by means of a law enforceable by the Police and by Court.

Making it illegal to cross that boundary would go a long way to breaking down the insiders and outsiders divide. It may be desperately unpopular with the current insiders who no-doubt like the perks their insider lives bring them.

What we see today is not what some call the natural fruits of freedom being enjoyed by those in power. It is rather the deliberate programme of the governing members to extract maximum benefit and maximum advantage from their positions, and to keep all others out.

It is a far cry from a South Africa where governing elites forgo perks, turn down lavish privileges, give up business interests, avoid conflicts of interest and end their inward focus.

And it is a far cry from a South Africa in which the government selflessly works to grow the economy, to grow talent, to grow opportunity, to grow inclusion and to grow equality for all people.

A very necessary rethinking of the divide between insiders and outsiders ought to be taking place. South Africa deserves vast swathes of insiders who all together enjoy the fruits of our cherished democracy. DM

Mmusi Maimane is Parliamentary leader of the DA. Follow him on Twitter: @MmusiMaimane