Literally no one said there isn't a problem. No one said that. But disagreeing about a 'state of decline' when the facts of the quality of improvement of the lives of the entire population has increased over a 30 year period disputes the rhetoric of 'state of decline'. Decline from what? When Apartheid made the lives of 10% good and the lives of 90% shit?
GDP is down ~12% since 2010, even though the population has grown by 20% over the same period. Per capita is down ~40% since 2010. Why are you pretending that this isn't an issue?