On towards a dictatorship

George Orwell said that “people who elect corrupt politicians, impostors, thieves and traitors are not victims… but accomplices”.

People who elect dictators …

People who elect dictators and then complain only have themselves to blame. Typically, a dictatorship is a state ruled by a person who possesses absolute power and he or she is usually supported by a small nepotistic clique.

Our government bears many similarities to a dictatorship, and any Cabinet reshuffle brings the same old, same old: ministers shifting to different chairs.

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It is a terrifying prospect if one considers our new Cabinet is the very best the government can do. But then again, one characteristic of our great leaders is to surround themselves with people who always agree with them, indulge in corruption, jointly make bad decisions and then blame everyone else.

They are intent on making as money as they can

They and their entitled family members and friends are all intent on making as much money as they can, as quickly as possible.

Our people are tired of the divisive petty playground politics our dictatorship loves practising. Our people want to work, they want food, they want security and they want unity.

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But the government goes out of its way to devise policies that will prevent this, while allowing them to cling to their seats in parliament, their salaries and their perks.

Having destroyed our power generation and supply, the government’s plan to overcome this disaster was to use taxpayers’ money to buy generators and diesel for themselves.

They must really think we are as thick as two planks – and judging by the way we vote, we seem to be so.

We are similar to Russia

Our political landscape is similar to Russia before the 1917 October Revolution. Refusing to listen to or take good advice from anyone who wasn’t part of his inner circle, Czar Nicolas ended up destroying the Russian empire along with his family and friends.

South Africa currently also bears many similarities to the Arab Spring. People have become sick and tired of the never-ending cycle of corruption and mismanagement of the state and the senseless squandering of their tax money.

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We are seeing demonstrations caused by our unbelievably high unemployment rate, increasing-ly higher food costs, rampant institutionalised corruption, poor living conditions and a lack of electricity and water in many areas.

Crime is out of control, yet our minister seems unaware of it. Our daily murder rate is worse than most war zones.

Despite this, he acts as though everything is under control. It isn’t. South Africa has already surpassed the anger points that resulted in the Arab Spring.

The flame to light this growing tinderbox will be very small. Protests and shutdowns are being planned and widely circulated on social media and in the mainstream media.

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Threats are made to those who try to stop them. Hospitals and places of learning are blockaded and, at times, destroyed and vandalised.

People planning and coordinating the protests are given excessive radio and television airtime. Our government, as most people know, is powerless and spineless to stop the powder keg they have been instrumental in creating and maintaining.

Instead, they love trying to distract everyone’s attention from reality by claiming they actually have the country’s wellbeing at heart.

They know they are lying – and so do we. Without any concern, dictators cling to power by applying a “divide-and-rule” approach.

This is very evident in our daily political environment. It was tried in old Russia, Egypt and Tunisia. It didn’t work. But their lack of concern at what they created, maintained and perpetuated may just come back to haunt them as a very rude and destructive awakening.