‘SA needs a revolution’: 26 daily protests call for ‘state of emergency’

With South Africa rocked by 26 protests daily, a deepening public distrust of formal politics has reached worrying levels, the three-day Interfaith Forum of SA heard yesterday.

Conceding that the government has failed the people in its mandate of implementing a developmental state, with people’s interests topping the list of priorities, delegates – who included the clergy, traditional leaders and organs of civil society – called for “a state of emergency”.

Former president Thabo Mbeki was in attendance.

To loud applause and calls for “a revolution”, delegates registered their strongest unhappiness with the ANC – months before next year’s general election.

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Describing the gathering as “momentous time in the history of democracy”, Ashwin Trikamjee, president of the SA Hindu Maha Sabha, reading a statement on behalf of the forum, said: “One way leads to a social, economic and political precipice.

“The other – if we choose – leads to the fulfilment of the dreams of all South Africans and a worthy reward for all who paid the ultimate price for our future of justice, peace and prosperity.

“To get ourselves to the latter pathway of promise, South Africa needs a radical rehabilitation to address the national crisis. Many have been disheartened by the failed promise of our democratic dispensation. “It is a failure to live up to the promise of the post-apartheid South Africa – a just, reconciled, equitable and sustainable SA.”

Trikamjee said this failure becomes the failure of nation-building.

“It is a failure to move from the divided, balkanised existence of racial, ethnic and class oppositionality, to a united nation – inclusive, forward-looking and at peace with itself.”

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He said SA’s crisis was manifest in the evident collapse in aspects of governance at various levels and “lawlessness that prevails with impunity for the corrupt who loot state resources”.

He added: “Our crisis is manifest in the rapid spread of the underworld of illicit merchandise and illicit financial flows. It is manifest in human trafficking and the custom of rented killers called izinkabi who unabashedly stalk our communities and brazenly gun down their victims in broad daylight.

“Our crisis is manifest in the scourge of gender violence and the gender-based killings, the rampant drug dealing and the zama zamas that terrorise communities.”

He said this was a crisis of trust, a crisis of hope and self-belief.

In her address on the country’s future and its prospects, University of Pretoria political science and international relations lecturer, Dr Sithembile Mbete, described SA as being gripped by “a moment of despondency”, with “people talking about corruption, bad governance and other public abuses”.

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“We are in a situation of stark inequality, worsening poverty and high unemployment. A protest in Tunisia that sparked the Arab Spring started when youth unemployment reached 28%, and we are sitting at 60% to 70% of unemployed young people. The country is already burning.

“Twenty-six protests taking place in SA a day – on water, electricity and other challenges – have become so common, that we only hear about them in the traffic reports, about which road to avoid.”

The forum will be addressed by more experts today and tomorrow.