My final observations for this year come courtesy of implications from recent statements by our president.
It’s also a bit of a cautionary tale, because general comments implying one thing, can also have implications for another, that may seem unrelated at first.
Speaking as leader of his party, Cyril Ramaphosa recently spoke very confidently about the ANC’s certain victory at the polls next year. And I couldn’t help reading a lot more into his statements than what he intended.
You can call it the result of my disillusionment and deep disappointment in where we find ourselves as a country.
It made his statements more laughable than confidence-inspiring that the ANC will indeed be able to organise itself into a cohesive unit capable of a decisive win.
One of the things he said relates to what he calls the party’s powerful machinery: “… when the ANC decides that it is going to move, you will never beat this machinery that we have.”
This sounds frightfully impressive, but also immediately has me wondering why this “powerful machinery” is not able to call the party to order and keep it on the straight and narrow.
Can this machinery not be used to address all the failings the ANC continues to have as a governing party?
Can this machinery not be installed as civilian oversight, alongside executives who appear to be out of touch with their electorate and who clearly need guidance in the execution of their duties?
They clearly need it, as this is a party that isn’t even able to manage its finances and pay its service providers as to avoid liquidation.
This has been a tough year for us as citizens and we need a break from the overwhelming anxieties.
There are certain government services that we shouldn’t have to give a second thought.
A successful government allows me to get on with my life, without having to worry about whether there will be electricity for me to do so.
Or whether I can safely pop in at the shop on my way home from work, without falling victim to wanton crime.
In the last few days, there have been brazen robberies at the Rosmead SuperSpar in Kenilworth, outside N1 City, where a man was chased down, shot and robbed.
Another one at Canal Walk saw a gang of thieves striking early, smashing the glass doors and fleeing with pricey laptops.
These are places I frequent and had I been at any one of those venues at those times, it might have been my last day.
Ramaphosa went on to highlight the fact that the ANC is everywhere, adding: “We are, therefore, going to deploy our boots on the ground and we are going to overwhelm them, and that is why we are certain victory is assured.”
Just imagine if this was the attitude towards service delivery. Imagine if those boots were being deployed to make sure their own communal interests are being served, that MPs are doing their jobs and not engaging in any form of self-enrichment.
Just imagine those boots overwhelming failing ministries and criminals, and assuring victory for fatigued and law-abiding citizens.
Instead, they are being deployed merely to win an election so the party can stay in power.
And presumably continue on the same path of mediocrity that leads to failing the nation’s relatively low expectations.This is what I hear when I see our president shifting into campaigning mode.
It seems to me that ruling-party leaders come alive with passion when votes are at stake. They are able to think very creatively to get people to the polling booths and voting for them.
Ramaphosa even boasted about the party having “a secret weapon to win the election.”
This is great news for the party, especially if they pull it off. But wouldn’t it be nice if there was “a secret weapon” to tackle crime, corruption or under-performing ministers.
If they can even just assure Sassa payments consistently, or fund NSFAS better, or maintain critical infrastructure, it would be a win.
It would be a magnificent secret weapon, if we all got to benefit from it, instead of only a handful of chosen ANC big wigs.
breinou@gmail.com