Instead of trying to fix the big problems that affect us all, the “rulers” are turning inward. Some in government are spending more time fighting each other than trying to find solutions for our many problems. And our lives are getting worse by the day.

There can be no doubt about how bad things are.

It emerged last week that hundreds of thousands, perhaps as many as 2 million, children in KwaZulu-Natal had not been receiving their meals at school. This had led to some schools closing early because children cannot learn on empty stomachs.

The implications of this failure are huge. The children’s lack of nutrition during school hours affects their families dramatically. Who can forget that so many adults had to forgo their evening meals during the pandemic so that their children could have something to eat instead?

Administrative reasons have been cited as the reason for this. The ANC in KZN has publicly apologised for the debacle, saying the provincial education department tried to move from a policy of having different suppliers for each school to one big supplier for a bigger region. During the transfer, the bigger supplier was not ready – and the children went hungry.

So far, KZN Education MEC Mbali Frazer has said nothing publicly. Neither has that entire department.

Meanwhile, with another week of Stage 5 or Stage 6 load shedding in the offing (and dire predictions of Stage 8 for all of this year’s winter), there is no evidence that the government has a coordinated response to this crisis.

Instead, both The Sunday Times and City Press have reported on what appears to be huge divisions between Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, who is refusing to give up his powers to procure electricity, and the minister touted by President Cyril Ramaphosa as being in overall charge of electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, who will literally not have the power to make the big decisions.

In the middle of this is Eskom itself. As energy analyst Chris Yelland has pointed out, Eskom is now failing to release much information or hold regular briefings on the state of its system. In almost all cases, when the flow of information stops, it means bad news. Particularly in a crisis like this.

Then there are the failures of our justice system.

To be clear, without a working criminal justice system, a state cannot function. It is entirely the point of a government to prevent violent conflict in society by providing legitimate justice.

On Friday, 21 April, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) lost the Nulane case that has been described as “the blueprint for State Capture”.

Judge slams State’s ‘stillborn, audacious’ case as all 8 Nulane corruption accused discharged

The psychological impact of this could be devastating.

It was the case the NPA had publicly said it was relying on for other prosecutions. And it had a potential smoking gun to prove the Guptas themselves criminally liable for their actions.

Instead, it has ended in disaster.

This case has become symbolic of so much that is wrong with our criminal justice system.

While it is the NPA that decided to take this case to court, so much of the fault lies with the police. It is they who so often are not able to mount proper investigations.

The consequence of this is the violence we live with, with less than 20% of murders solved by police. The consequence is that if someone wants to kill a whistle-blower in the Gauteng Health Department, or a famous music star, they can – and do, with a great level of certainty that they will not be punished. 

The Gupta extradition fiasco is another hit at South Africa’s soft underbelly. 

There is strong evidence that the United Arab Emirates did not follow the clauses of our extradition treaty. Instead of ensuring that the NPA was kept up to date, the Guptas were told about the decision to free them weeks before the NPA.

37-day head start: Guptas’ lawyers knew about failed extradition long before SA was informed

The consequences of this for the UAE are that our government rolled out the red carpet for their president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to land in the Eastern Cape.

Instead of a hint of punishment for his conduct (as head of state, he must have been involved in the decision), he has literally been allowed to take over a small portion of the Eastern Cape as his playground, with our government doing everything to please him.

Having a direct impact on the lives of voters, it would be rational to assume that those who are in charge would have the biggest possible democratic incentive to try to improve things.

There is very little evidence to show any such effort.

Instead of what should be a clear, single-minded attempt to end rolling blackouts, it appears that ministers are squabbling over mandate and power. This is astonishing. The ANC has said, publicly, that load shedding results in “vote shedding” for the party. 

There is an extra element of farce to these displays of incompetence.

On Sunday, two newspapers carried reports of what appears to be a dispute between Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande and Deputy Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela. The point of contention is not an important point of policy, but about who is getting more interviews and media coverage.

In the middle of the deepest crisis that modern South Africa has experienced, two adults whose job it is to help their country are arguing over who is receiving more attention.

It is hard to think of something more absurd.

It is also a pointless fight. Although some of our politics is public, much of it is not. It is a bad mistake to confuse airtime with power. Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel, for example, has had a huge impact on our economy over time, without necessarily receiving much public airtime.

There may be important reasons why people in government fight with each other, rather than fight to resolve our problems. It may be that, for them, the bigger problems are unsolvable. They have no solutions and, perhaps, feel powerless when confronted by them.

When it comes to fighting among themselves, they may feel more empowered. This is a language they know and understand, and have been playing for years.

The dynamic of when those in the ruling class or social elite spend more time fighting among themselves than working to stave off the inevitable disaster confronting them has occurred many times in human history. 

That there’s an almost total lack of leadership from the top is not helping either. Without direction from Ramaphosa, fighting may feel like a nice pastime.

For the moment, there is little to indicate that anything will change. The good ship South Africa has sailed out of the safe port and icebergs are aplenty. The captain is asleep and the officers are squabbling. What can possibly go wrong? DM