Growing complexity is not a law of nature but a deliberate choice. Day by day, new institutions are created in order to channel all sorts of tasks and problems. However, old institutions – no matter how obsolete – tend not to be abolished. This is because of the phenomenon of self-referentiality: after a while an institute becomes its own goals, creating its own rules and regulations, etc. In a functional society, (Adam Smith’s division of labour) groups of people are dependent on the existence of this or that institution, even if it is no longer serving its original purpose. This makes that institutions fiercely resist any attempt to modify it, let alone abolish it.
And that’s exactly what is needed in order to reduce complexity: to abolish old institutions, rules, laws, practices etc. Some meta-institutional organism (state?) should do this by force, as it will never happen voluntarily.
The alternative is that people adapt to complexity. Ideally they are to become multi-causal gnomes (computers). This however is not a neutral process. Some gnomes will be better than others. And it is good for consultant’s businesses.

Whilst these events are important, they are secondary in respect of what’s coming South Africa’s way.

In my opinion, what is more important for South Africans is “how can South African institutions mitigate the external forces”?

To name but a few:
* the macro-economical forces at play currently (gold price, currency wars, escalating debt, rising inflation),
* the dramatically changing political scene (politics in the US and Europe are becoming more polarized than ever with less and less traction for the mainstream parties),
* the tension in the Middle East and the implications of a military conflict in the region,
* the behavior of the Chinese government and the state of the Chinese economy.

These are, in my humble opinion, some of the major forces that will drive uncertainty albeit the Unknowns Unknowns are probably more powerful,

And from the macro level, socialism or totalitarianism is the antithesis of complexity. It does not allow self-organization. Corrupt socialism is even worse. I thought we learned that some time ago.

Hopefully you can clarify my confusion.