For too long we have watched the unscrupulous ANC government loot from our people unashamedly. It is only a morally bankrupt leadership that can consistently, for decades, fail to adequately address cases of rampant corruption that are paid for by the blood, sweat and tears of poor South Africans who are struggling to make ends meet due to the government-imposed lockdown.
Initially, the lockdown was endorsed in March 2021 as the coronavirus was relatively unknown, and curbing the spread was a priority. However, true to form, the ruling party and its sticky fingers found their way to funds that were raised to cushion struggling citizens from a struggling economy that was now forced shut.
From the PPE scandal that had the presidential spokesperson at the heart of it, the case of the misappropriated R500-billion Covid-19 relief package and the minister of health’s Digital Vibes, there seems to be no stopping the corruption train of the ruling party. The bulldozer of corruption continues to steamroll over vulnerable citizens and masks looting in the form of exorbitant rate hikes that are tantamount to squeezing blood from a stone.
Unashamedly, our existing government swindles money that is meant to save lives. In the case of eThekwini municipality, residents are squeezed to the core in the form of electricity hikes to the tune of 14.59% and the introduction of an irrational infrastructure levy of R1.50/kl that is effective from 1 July 2021.
Transferring the burden of corruption and incompetence seems to be the order of the day. During this 14-day Level 4 lockdown that will undoubtedly wreak more havoc and devastation on the lives of struggling citizens, the residents of eThekwini are expected to miraculously raise R1-billion over the next three years to fund infrastructure maintenance. This is a new low for the corruption-ridden eThekwini Metro— it has an astronomical budget of R52-billion, yet is uninterested in addressing service delivery issues.
Despite a budget that supersedes that of the province, in eThekwini there are pipe bursts that leave water running in the streets for months, the historically black locations still have health-hazardous asbestos and the aloof ANC councillors and officials fight internal battles through the soliciting of bodyguards. These are paid for by struggling ratepayers.
It is abundantly clear that South Africans deserve far better than the prevailing situation meted out to us by the ruling party. The answer lies in ActionSA as the only political party that is actively endeavouring to involve ordinary citizens in government and places them at the forefront of the mission to unseat the self-serving ANC government and replace it with people-centred ActionSA.
Our country is lacking in ethical leadership and key posts in government are compromised due to cadre deployment that illustrates a narrow-minded government that is willing to line the pockets of a few at the expense of the South African people.
The lack of respect for the rule of law is precisely why our indecisive president has failed to dismiss corrupt individuals in his administration and only responds to public pressure. It was only through public uproar that Khusela Diko was given leave of absence — and it was the same game with Minister Zweli Mkhize. Even so, the blatant disregard for the rule of law is glaring and the inability to have public officials held accountable remains. Why are they forced to take a leave of absence? Why not resign and step down once you have brought your office into disrepute?
What is more frightening is how the ANC factional corruption battles are not only collapsing our state-owned enterprises, but also polluting the minds of citizens and besmirching even the Public Protector’s office and the judiciary. The ANC has become a demolition excavator pulling down the pillars of our budding democracy, reducing it to private economic interests with manufactured public consent.
To the eyes of the general public, South Africa’s State Capture is a double-sided story. On the one hand is Gupta State Capture/radical economic transformation and Black Economic Empowerment. On the other is the “Stellenbosch Mafia”/Afrikaner Broederbond-driven so-called White Monopoly Capital State Capture.
Unfortunately, despite her outstanding performance while Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela’s choice of career path has landed her on one side of the State Capture divide. Accepting the professorship position at the University of Stellenbosch regrettably feeds assertions that her work was never for the public, but for narrow Stellebosch Mafia/White Monopoly Capital economic interests.
Juxtaposed with that is Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s ruling on Ace Magashule’s Estina dairy farm scandal and her report’s revelations on donations to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s successful 2017 ANC presidential victory.
South Africans, whose private economic interests and therefore the ANC’s factional corruption battle is the Public Protector or the judiciary on?
These are questions that the legacy of the ANC will never be able to address. However, through the application of pressure that has yielded these small victories, South Africans have proven that they are ready to take their country back.
We need to fix the ailing education system and end the Bantu Education of 1953 vintage. We need to promote the base of bilingualism with the English language as the primary or common medium of instruction and one of the other 10 official South African languages as compulsory.
In linguistically homogeneous provinces like KwaZulu-Natal, the English and isiZulu languages must be compulsory. We need to design a system that promotes mathematically wired culture that not only produces students who cater for the needs of the labour market, but thinkers and entrepreneurs.
We need to eradicate the governing party corruption that has closed this economy and seen unprecedented job losses. We need to create a job for every household and this can only happen through the collaboration of people from all walks of life. DM