Corrupt politicians’ middle finger to taxpayers

With thugs regrouping, our politics has reached a new low.

Like the ANC, Jacob Zuma’s political formation, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, has shown a middle finger to the taxpayers by appointing a group of questionable individuals as members of the legislature.

Less than a month after appearing in court for corruption charges, Zizi Kodwa was sworn in as a parliamentarian.

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Many other ANC leaders were fingered by the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture chaired by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, but nothing happened to them.

Like during the Zuma era, the country is presently led by a person who has been accused of a crime which is dubbed or known to many as “Phala Phala”, this will haunt him even after his presidency.

The MK has arrogantly gone on to look for all the thugs who have been previously accused of having dragged this country into where it is.

These characters who are regrouping will be paid by us to somehow draft laws and hold the Cabinet accountable … when they were not accountable themselves.

Brian Molefe, Siyabonga Gama, Lucky Montana and Tom Moyane are some of the individuals that the MK party is reportedly planning to send to the National Council of Provinces; it is no joke.

These are individuals who have no regard for the rule of law and they have shown that when they had power in the state institutions, which they abused for their self-enrichment.

With these sophisticated crooks in parliament, our political spectrum could be said to have reached a new low.

Our politics no longer inspire confidence because they lack the ethical leadership that we used to have during the liberation movement era.

It was not only ethical and moral leadership but the intellectual currency attached to our political landscape.

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It is impossible to put these individuals anywhere close to AP Mda, Anton Lembede, Pixley Ka Isaka Seme, Robert Sobukwe, Peter Raboroko, David Sibeko, Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Steve Biko, Onkgopotse Tiro and many others, who inspired some levels of confidence among the masses.

These are not your ordinary, petty thugs who are violent against their victims. They are sophisticated human beings who have taught themselves ways in which they can be able to manipulate people.

They use their blackness as a mobilisation tool for support by successfully portraying themselves as victims because, in their heads, they are representing what they call “black excellence”.

As per tradition in any democracy, when they are asked difficult questions in an attempt to make them open, transparent and accountable, they run around and point to other allegations of corruption committed by white people.

That is how they have been able to survive all these years. They have been able to convince some people that, like Zuma, they are also victimised for fighting for black people when they are looking out for their skin.

Montana is the sole reason that many poor black people in the townships and rural areas cannot access competitive and efficient public railways in South Africa today.

We are told daily that our ports are in disarray and falling apart, but we never talk about how Gama made sure that he paralysed Transnet to become what it is today… useless.

Some people want to claim that Molefe addressed the power crisis at Eskom. It is a pure lie. He never did, he just shifted the cookie jar from one group to empower another. That is what he did.

We have load shedding because the administrations of Thabo Mbeki, Zuma, and Cyril Ramaphosa never dealt with the issue. How is it even possible that we claim that Molefe addressed the energy crisis at Eskom? It cannot be.

Moyane’s questionable activities are well documented by South Africa’s media, the less said about him the better.

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These are old people who should be looking after either their livestock or grandchildren at home. What future are they building that they will not be part of?

Most of these pensioners who are in parliament will not be alive in the coming 15 years and that is a fact.

How do we expect them to prepare for a better future which they will not be a part of, they are aware that they are going to die in a few years and their greed is telling them to steal everything left for their children.

It is clear that Zuma is out of vengeance against those he believes have crucified him when he was in power.

While I don’t believe the claim that he is a master tactician,k like a chess player, he was smart to choose individuals who have nothing to lose and harbour a lot of anger and revenge against those they think have put them outside power.

We are expecting pushback from these groups of people who have regrouped to fight another group of allegedly corrupt individuals who are occupying power at the moment. It will be a long five years full of drama and horrors.

• Mokgatlhe is an independent political analyst