There is a saying that goes Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned.
The source of this phrase is the supposed story that Nero played the fiddle (violin) while the city was engulfed in flames in AD 64.
As with all the fake news going around these days, there are two major flaws with this tale. Firstly, there was no such instrument as the fiddle (violin) in first century Rome.
Secondly, the story may be completely false and Nero may very well not have neglected his duty at all.
Either or, whatever the truth, if this saying was even remotely true, it will be an apt saying for our country in this point in time, for our government is playing the fiddle while the country burns.
And by playing the fiddle I mean preoccupying themselves with all kinds of other distractions and agendas.
Yes, this country is burning, evident by all the service delivery protests. Clearly, the honeymoon period for our president has come to an end.
There were high hopes of radical change, especially resurrecting parastatals that have bled the country dry for years.
New boards and CEOs have been appointed, but of late Eskom remains in a state of disarray with protests over no wage increases threatening to plunge the country into darkness.
In the meanwhile, while the daunting sound of the fiddle drifts over the gardens of the Union Buildings, SA’s citizens are plunged into an economic hell as petrol prices keep soaring (and I truly believe the government can do something about this), coupled with the VAT increase earlier the year.
By the way, what has happened to the lifestyle audits? Remember how Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address in February promised to implement lifestyle audits for senior officials in government?
According to the DA, this was just talking with no action.
Apparently, there are legal limitations to conduct such audits, yet even these limitations can easily be addressed.
In the meantime, we as the citizens of the country are still in the dark regarding how our taxpayers’ money is used to fund the lifestyle of our leaders.
Sadly, it seems, little has changed. Our leader has a new coat, but Rome remains Rome.
Back home, service delivery remains a joke. Water leaks are allowed to continue for months, power outages are common, faulty traffic lights take a while before being operational again, the roads are falling apart and yes the Boksburg Lake is still a mess.
And what on earth is going on with the street lights in Boksburg?
Apparently, the metro is leaving certain lights to burn during the day to prevent vandalism. To be honest, this makes no sense whatsoever, after all, it is our taxpayers’ money being wasted to keep the lights on.
After all, is the light from the lamp supposed to scare away criminals in broad daylight? By the way, has the metro noticed all the broad daylight robberies?
Criminals do not mind vandalising and looting in the day, and a little light from above will not deter them.
In December last year, the metro told the Advertiser the street lights are burning because of vandalism.
It seems that every time the street lights are vandalised or theft takes place, daylight timers become non-functional and can then not control the proper functioning of the street lights.
At the same time, the metro said when street light repairs have been carried out, they usually leave them on for a certain period to try to counteract the re-occurrence of theft and vandalism and as part of the metro’s inspection process to ensure they have been properly repaired.
Again, little of this makes sense. The metro also said they will be resolving the burning street lights issue in the very near future.
And so time ticks by, and street lights remain an issue. Just like the lifts at Scribante. Just as the debacle at the Boksburg Lake. So please, let us switch off the lights before Eskom falls into total chaos.
So the country burns because the people are tired of all the promises, excuses, and the continuing waste of our money.
All that we are left with, while we cringe in horror at the petrol station, is the eerie sound of the fiddle and the smell of smoke of our economy burning.
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We can only but hope as we head into 2018
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