Three items of interest caught my eye today and being inter-related they led me to speculate what they actually mean - beyond the smoke and mirrors, beyond the spin.
Firstly, I see that Barney Pityana, former vice-chancellor of Unisa, has asked President Jacob Zuma in a letter to resign because of “poor leadership, moral perversion” of the country and weekly scandals.
The next item of interest was that residents of Mmakau, outside of Pretoria, are up in arms because Patrice Motsepe hasn’t done enough for them, that some of his businesses there are no longer operating and they now feel let down, or disadvantaged as it were.
Meanwhile Jeff Radebe has announced – with fanfare, drum rolls and the necessary gravity that such occasions deserve – that all civil servants found guilty of corruption are to be “named and shamed”.
Doesn’t this all fit so nicely together when one looks at the disaster that is SA today?
In the first instance we have the leader of the nation and of the governing party – the self-appointed guardian of our morals and values – being told to “Hit the road, Jacob”, because he’s frankly useless. This is the self-same man who some 4,000 delegates of the party recently re-elected, unanimously, to lead both the party and the country forwards.
I won’t here point out the obvious flaws in such a system, suffice to say that it’s become fairly obvious that we have a fool leading a delegation of fools who are in turn attempting to fool the entire population – as if they are the fools.
I only have two thoughts here, questions actually.
If JZ is indeed forced out - let us say recalled by the party as they say in ANC parlance - what will become of Nkandla, and obviously our R 200+ million invested therein? Will Nkandla still be a key-point installation?
I won’t even get into wondering who would replace him, that possibly another minefield completely.
Capitalist
Getting back to the headlines, you may be asking where Patrice Motsepe comes into this.
Here is a self-made billionaire who is now being put on trial by the masses for not enabling them, for not creating jobs, or wealth - for basically being a capitalist. Can you see where this is going?
The ANC under JZ has created such an unbelievably unreasonable culture of entitlement amongst primarily the poor in this country that anybody who now even has a job, never mind whether he - or she - be wealthy, merely a business persona, an entrepreneur or just another working slob, is now being targeted as “one of them”.
Can anyone see the obvious dangers here? Under Zuma’s leadership the ANC have created all the makings of both a race and a class war by not only ignoring their people and their obvious needs but they have further created rifts amongst all South Africans based on firstly skin colour and now status. Their policy - for lack of a better word - of divide and rule is, instead of giving anybody any benefits, leading us all towards bitter confrontation on various levels.
As for Radebe’s ridiculous announcement, well this is going to be both extremely interesting and a huge embarrassment to him, his party and the country as a whole.
He is basically throwing these people, unthinkingly, to the wolves. We’re liable to have mobs going around torching these individuals’ houses, looting their businesses and generally running amuck.
Has he actually thought about this?
Has he thought about what the overseas media are liable to do with the names of thousands of unscrupulous civil servants - how they diddled the state, where they invested their ill-gotten gains, where they are now and what they are doing?
If we thought the Oscar/Reeva circus was something, can you imagine the headlines this will produce?
We will be the laughing stock of the planet, especially if Shabby Shaik, Jackie Selebi and others come into the picture. It’ll be a public relations nightmare.
Seriously though, it’s become more than obvious that the ANC are getting into a moerse panic and that they are abandoning any vestiges they may once have had of responsible and effective governance. They are running scared and soon will be so busy employing spin doctors in an attempt to divert blame from themselves, individually, that we can forget about any meaningful policies, direction or leadership emanating from either government or Luthuli House.
We have truly now become a rudderless ship, adrift in stormy waters, with the crew taking to the lifeboats as fast as their little legs can carry them, carrying all the loot they can lay their greedy little paws on.
Mamphele Ramphele – the stage is now yours and there’s never going to be a better time to step in and do what has to be done. I would suggest that you and Helen Zille get together for a little chat, settle any differences you may have, and then get some leadership going before we go down with all hands. It’s time.
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