By now we should realise we live in a country where a lot of things do not really make sense.
It is sad state of affairs where talk rules the day, where the walk does not align with the talk and where the smiles try to hide the walk from the talk.
Our President keeps on smiling, placing faith in his new cabinet, yet the reality is that in South Africa we love to back the wrong horse, or celebrate pie in the sky ideas as we constantly spin the negative into the positive at our own peril.
Despite all the talk, South Africa’s economy is in deep trouble, which affects us all, and yes, even here in Boksburg where service delivery is quickly becoming a myth.
SA’s economy contracted 3.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, the worst drop since the same period in 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis.
A huge reason for this woeful performance, which could lead to further investment downgrades, is due to Eskom’s inability to keep the lights on which has had a negative impact on the mining and manufacturing sector.
On top of all this drama, is that South Africa’s agricultural economy also started the year on a bad footing, contracting by 13.2 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted annualised rate.
Apparently this came as a surprise as the industry expected a positive reading on the back of improvement in some horticultural sub-sectors and the winter crops harvest.
This is nothing new. Everything seems to come as a surprise to politicians it seems and sporting captains, even though corruption has bled us dry and Eskom plunges deeper into the abyss.
In the meantime, the ruling government has declared war on unemployment and plans to introduce a three-shift system to keep the economy going, create jobs and reduce joblessness by 13.6 per cent in the next five years.
This is about as far fetched in reality as when the ANC promised before the elections one million houses over the next five years.
Smoke and mirrors is the name of the political game, yet based on our recent elections, many are still fooled or wish to turn the blind eye.
Analysts said the government has showed it is aware of what’s happening in terms of unemployment, employing a sense of urgency to address the crisis.
To be honest, if the government was not aware of the problem that 27 per cent are unemployed then one should really be worried. This is why we have a cabinet of so-called experts.
It is estimated that over 14 million people go to bed hungry in our Rainbow Nation yet the President keeps smiling.
So yes, the ruling party is taking action but based on so many promises of creating jobs, the beggar on the street is not holding his breath in anticipation.
It boils down government implementing policies efficiently, which is as improbable as the Proteas winning the Cricket World Cup.
On the subject of cricket, here is another example of talking the talk yet when it comes to the walk, we stumble in the darkness blinded by foolish pride.
Two games into the world cup and the captain said the team’s A game has been blown apart. Shouldn’t the A game be the result of years of meticulous planning?
This A game revolved around bowling machine Dale Steyn, who was clearly not fit to play yet was put on a plane to England. Added to this irrational approach of picking a squad, Hashim Amla also headed to England without having scored hardly any runs in domestic cricket.
This could turn out to be our worst world cup yet and the Rugby World Cup is on its way. Hopefully no one will be left surprised when the Springboks implode in shocking defeats.
Our sport reflects our tragic political affairs – lack of passion, true patriotism, willpower, competent leadership, integrity and accountability. After all, we just replace the personnel if the kitchen gets too hot (following a golden hand shake).
This is our South Africa where we settle for the mediocre, bogged down by an endless string of excuses, all the world is laughing at our bemused attempts to be freed from the mire of our bruised ego.
FOLLOW US:
For more #hyperlocal news at your fingertips, visit Benoni City Times, Springs Advertiser, Brakpan Herald, African Reporter and Kathorus Mail
