South Africa in ‘very deep trouble’ as government fails to deliver even basic things

As the country continues to experience myriad challenges, South Africa has become a victim of a failed government with the ruling party unable to protect its people’s basic constitutional rights.

The cholera outbreak, ongoing electricity crisis, an economy on its knees with rising unemployment and the collapse of state-owned entities (SOEs) are a few of the many problems SA faces.

Exposing the country’s dysfunctional sewage networks, a cholera outbreak has killed 15 people and left many hospitalised. Water experts said they warned government about the issue.

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Deputy Minister of Health Sibongiseni Dhlomo said there had been 41 reported cases of cholera: one in Limpopo, six in the Free State and 34 in Tshwane, Gauteng. A total of 37 people had been admitted to hospital.

Eskom

On Monday, Eskom said it had used 25 open-cycle gas turbines (OCGT) which would add to the costs. Back in 2021, Eskom disclosed that each OCGT, which generated 150 megawatts of power, cost Eskom R500 000 per hour.

If it ran them all simultaneously, it would cost R10 million an hour to burn diesel to produce electricity. Given the rise in fuel prices it would probably cost more now.

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Political analyst André Duvenhage said there was no doubt South Africa was a failing state. Duvenhage said the government was not failing in just one area but in all areas, from service delivery, national government, foreign affairs, local government, and provincial government to administration.

He said the cholera outbreak was due to the mismanagement of local government and the lack of proper service delivery.

“And then at the same time the officially elected mayor went to see what was going on there, he was driven away by the same ANC people who mismanaged the situation,” he said.

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“So this is what we can call a state which has an endemic crime situation. And there’s no solution. It is a combination of criminality and state failure and that is what is playing out around us.”

ANC becoming desperate

Duvenhage said in many ways, the ANC could not govern the country anymore and were not in a position to work in terms of the common group of the people

“They are becoming desperate. They are concerned about the 2024 elections and we have seen an increase of conflict. We have seen an increase of violence and this is a real area of concern at this point.

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“South Africa had one of the most sophisticated constitutions in the world… We cannot even deliver on the basic things, what about the more sophisticated things?”

In regards to the use of official languages by organs of state, the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) presented recommendations on the importance of the organs of state to ensure the elevation and promotion of all official languages.

CRL chief executive Professor David Mosomo said the recommendations were what the constitution and the law required.

“It was not a matter of ‘and/or’ but a matter of what needed to be done,” he said.

“We are putting recommendation with understanding that the government will make sure that the issues of language and its use, promotion and protection are upheld.

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“So, whether government is struggling with one thing or the other, it is part of what government must do. So we cannot say the use of languages should be (disregarded) because government is struggling with something.”

SOEs

Even with SOEs collapsing and several municipalities under administration, ministers still spent R95 million upgrading their official residences, according to the ministerial handbook. The Ministerial Handbook outlined many benefits.

Under the staff establishment section for the private office of a member, ministers are each allowed seven officials to assist them. Members and their spouses were entitled to travel for official purposes.

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“Special domestic air travel benefits for national members and their spouses are jointly eligible to 20 single domestic economy class flight tickets per annum at the expense of the relevant department,” it stated.

A single one-way trip to Cape Town cost about R1 600, which meant about R32 000 could be spent on just one minister.

Politics the biggest problem in SA

Chief economist at Efficient Group Dawie Roodt said the country had certainly deteriorated quite dramatically and the government had failed at many levels at the expense of South Africans.

“And the reason why that has happened – there are a number of reasons – but one is that the government does not have an ideology. They do not care about ideology, but the guys that do care about ideology, they are following the wrong ideology,” he said.

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“So looking at the South African economy, we are in very deep trouble. It’s going to take us many years to get out of this hole that was created by the ANC government. We know what the answers to economic problems are. The main problem in South Africa is simply politics.”

– lungas@citizen.co.za