The Great Gravy Train Robbery

What is wrong with the people of South Africa?

With the national elections just around the corner, we seem hell-bent on buying up the soul-sapping drivel spewed forth from various political parties.

Once, every four years or so, we enter a time of heightened Bull***t from political parties. Promises are made, pledges undertaken and a general race takes place to convince people to vote for a particular group.

But here is the problem – how exactly do we differentiate between the nonsense bandied about from the various political parties? Do we look for the party with the least tripe in its statements? Or do we stick with the philosophy of ‘better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know’?

How do people objectively analyse party performance when one clear victor emerged from ‘the struggle’? We hear a lot of rhetoric regarding ‘the struggle’ these days. I am more inclined to see how parties intend to deal with the current ‘struggle’.

For instance, what have we really done about e-tolling? I see no one took up my suggestion of using cologne to burn down the gantries (remember, petrol is too expensive now).

Almost every promise regarding e-tolling has turned out to be a blatant lie – never mind that we pay taxes to maintain our roads.

Crime is another hot topic. Some claim ‘crime is not that bad’, but this is usually uttered by those walking around with bodyguards. I can’t afford one, so what about the rest of South Africa?

Children are being raped daily, along with women; government hospitals are in a shambles and the police force is trying their best, but I fear they are fighting against a raging torrent.

Then there is Nkandla – you know, the Buckingham Palace of Africa. Rumour has it the president has installed highly trained chickens in body armour to protect against intruders. For backup he has a Bovine Response Team to deal with the more determined intruders. Should things get too hectic, old JZ and his clan could always seek refuge in the fire pool.

Our beloved Public Protector, who recently published a report regarding Nkandla, has been viciously attacked by various groups for daring to challenge the president. I know she had some official title for her report, but I like to think it was informally called ‘The Great Gravy Train Robbery’.

At what point do we, the people of South Africa, hold our elected officials responsible for the dire state of South Africa? The strike in the platinum industry is reaching a point to which irreparable damage will be done. Think about it – economic damage which cannot be fixed. Yet nothing is said from government regarding this ‘cut-your-nose-to-spite-your-face’ situation.

Hell, we cannot even go for an impeachment of the president because South Africa does not have a true democracy. The ANC has nearly a two-thirds majority in parliament, which means to obtain an impeachment, every member of opposition parties must vote ‘yes’, along with nearly 50 percent of the ANC membership in parliament. And I just don’t see that happening.

If a president cannot be impeached through correct, democratic, principles, then surely we have a serious problem concerning ‘democracy’ in South Africa.

But at the end of the day, millions of South Africans live in dwellings unfit of the title ‘house’. Some of these people even live right next door to JZ’s Nkandla mansion.

Hospitals lack medicine. Police lack resources. Corruption is rife. The president spends R240-million on a palace in the middle of nowhere.

Conservative estimates place the cost of corruption in South Africa in the region of over R1-billion. For the past five years.

South Africa journeyed through one struggle only to enter another – post colonial redistribution. But even this ‘redistribution’ is not benefitting the majority of people in South Africa. Only a handful reap the monumental windfall of this, current, struggle.

Black and white, we need to take ownership of our country and ensure those entrusted with steering our country do so in a responsible and ethical manner.

I fear the late Nelson Mandela’s dream of a Rainbow Nation is being rapidly eroded by certain people in positions of power. I fear the great Madiba’s dream lives on only in the hearts of a select few.

It’s such a pity none of these people, carrying Madiba’s dream, are currently serving in parliament.