Have South Africans become like frogs who don’t realise they’re being boiled alive?

Have South Africans become too jaded to realise that things are heating up around us? Could this explain why we do not get angry anymore about all the instances where government fails us?

Wayne Duvenage, CEO of civil organisation Outa, says he agrees that South Africans are to a large extent like the proverbial complacent frog in a slowly-heating pot.

“We have come to accept so much that has gone wrong with South Africa as being the norm, especially when it comes to service delivery from all levels of government.”

He says citizens and rate payers once got angry at the sight of potholes some ten years ago but today, we almost accept this situation as being the norm in many of our towns and cities.

“Ten years ago, we would not tolerate raw sewage running down our streets and spewing into our river systems. Today we treat this as something we have come to expect from our municipalities.”

People pay more and more every year when it comes to local rates and taxes and the same goes for our taxes at national government level, Duvenage says, yet we get less in return and slowly over time we get used to it without noticing, just like the complacent ‘boiling frog’ syndrome.

“We complain a lot, but now we only complain and gasp at the big issues involving billions of rands (even then we stopped being surprised), when in the past it was the smaller but important issues of bins not being collected on time, or a water outage that was unacceptable – and rightly so.”

He says mediocre service delivery has become our norm and we have allowed this, because as citizens, we are not doing enough to use our collective power to hold our councillors to account. Government officials know that today’s headlines are forgotten tomorrow and so they continue to loot and waste.

“This is why citizens should support those civil action organisations that do the hard work of holding officials to account.”

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No, we have not lost our will to fight

Have South Africans then lost their will to fight?

Duvenage says he would not say we lost our will to fight our government about its poor management of the country.

“Take a look at the eToll system, where citizens took the fight to government and refused to pay for their ludicrous scheme and went as far as defying the law. In the end they won.”

He does not think South Africans have given up on the fight, but they are dealing with those fights that they can win, differently to those that are futile and un-winnable.

“There is nothing we as citizens can do to fix Eskom. You can suggest what must be done, but ‘you cannot force the horse to drink the water’ so to speak.”

In situations like the Eskom debacle, he says society is moving away from relying on government service delivery, which is an approach that has been demonstrated more in the poorer areas than in the middle-class suburbs, for decades now.

Where do we find a call to action that will inspire South Africans to say this is enough and stop being complacent? Duvenage says the opportunity is around the corner.

“In around 15 months’ time, the most important elections since democracy will take place. These elections in 2024 provide society with an opportunity to change the situation and say enough is enough, by voting out of power the very people who have squandered this country’s ability to grow and bring prosperity to all her people.”

However, he warns, it will require people to break their habit of abstaining from voting, just because they do not like the options available to them.

“We must approach these elections with a different mindset. What will certainly help is for others in positions of leadership, excluding populist politicians, to do more speaking out to the public about what this country needs and is capable of.”

Duvenage says people like Imtiaz Sooliman, professor Nick Binedell, professor Somadoda Fikeni and others are inspiring the nation to explore their potential and find solutions, as opposed to complaining and doing nothing.

“The biggest call we can make, is for local communities to work together, from all parts of each municipality, to hold their local councillors to account, to deliver excellent service. We need to do so without destroying property, but instead by engaging city management within our broken municipalities, in every way possible and demand more.”

Duvenage urges people to elect their community leaders and rate payer association heads and demand more from them to hold city management to account, especially when it comes to infrastructure maintenance and repairs.

“This way, we could see an improvement in the way our towns and cities are managed.”