Make the resolution to make SA a better place

Rolling blackouts – euphemistically called load shedding – what a perfect rejoinder to ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule’s attempt to sell a rosy future.

“We will give South Africans hope that things will be better tomorrow and will be better than today,” he said in a preview of the governing party’s January 8 statement, where the ANC annually sets out its vision.

When electricity goes off so often, unpredictably and in direct contradiction to assurances by President Cyril Ramaphosa, only the gullible will believe Magashule’s promises.

Economically and politically, SA is in a bad way. Official unemployment remains stubbornly above 29%. Most matriculants will not be able to find jobs easily.

Forecasts for economic growth in 2020 hover between 0.3% and 1.5%. To pervert a sporting cliché, I think we’ll be lucky to get nought.

South Africa is still suffering an “investment strike”. Investors are reluctant to commit to a country where doing business is difficult, and where property rights of many kinds are continually under threat.

Magashule, as a leading exponent of expropriation without compensation, contributes to this negative economic climate. And his repeated undermining of Ramaphosa shows the power struggle within the ANC is far from over.

Repeated failures of state-owned enterprises such as Eskom, South African Airways and Transnet also drag the economy down.

At the ANC’s national general council (NGC) in mid-2020, there will be focus on this economic gloom. Ramaphosa’s detractors, loyal to Magashule and to former president Jacob Zuma, will have ammunition.

Although there will not be leadership elections at the NGC, the gathering should give an indication of the balance of power within the party.

In the official opposition Democratic Alliance, leadership and policy matters are expected to be clarified in 2020, with a policy conference and an elective federal congress scheduled for the first half of the year.

Unlike the two bigger parties, the EFF appears to have started 2020 with clarity on its leadership and policies, which are both bad for the economy.

Moving down the scale, former Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba and former DA leader Mmusi Maimane are testing the waters with a view to starting a political party.

Political analyst and “elections nerd” Dawie Scholtz’s Twitter comment on Mashaba/ Maimane’s prospects is “Meh”, which is an expression of indifference or boredom. Probably correct.

Taking all of the above into account, South Africa starts the new decade with the economy in bad shape, amid political uncertainty.

Yet each of us still has a range of choices on how to respond. It is unhelpful to keep repeating how terrible things are, if we are not going to do anything constructive. It is sinful to despair.

Emigration, official or unofficial, is an option increasingly chosen by those who have given up hope that South Africa will ever come right.

Those of us who decide to stay, or feel compelled to do so by circumstance, can redouble our efforts to make South Africa a better place.

How about that for a new year resolution? Do as much as you can to make SA better. For our children’s children.

Just do it.

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