A VIEW OF THE WEEK: SA has become a nanny state − but maybe not in the way you think

Every Sunday morning, after going to church of course, I settle down for my favourite weekly drama: The Eskom grid update.

It is riveting stuff, to rival Days of Our Lives and Generations: The Legacy, and has made an engineer out of me.

I have joined the thousands of South Africans who have become the unofficial supervisor of Eskom and its ability to keep the lights on − and the position comes without the prestige or pay. My book won’t be called Three Years Inside Eskom but My Whole Life.

ALSO READ: A VIEW OF THE WEEK: Zuma’s drive-through jail visit is more a clown show than a ‘happy meal’

It is far from my only side hustle. South Africans have had to monitor police, water and transport in recent weeks.

This is because we have become a nanny state where public officials have had to be supervised by the citizens rather than get on with their work with the full confidence of those they serve.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a nanny state “is a government that tries to give too much advice or make too many laws about how people should live their lives”. Other commentators have linked it to the welfare state, where the government provides a large number of social grants and other relief measures to citizens.

The concept centres around freedom and the government supervising its citizens. But what if it is the people who are babysitting the government?

Regular public briefings may point to active citizenry and accountability, which are the pillars of a strong society, but the line between participating in democracy and nannying has been crossed.

What’s more scary is the entities not being supervised. Weekly updates aren’t “nice to haves” of democracy but are a last resort from fears that if state-owned enterprises (SEOs)or government departments are not watched, they will crumble.

The man who should be watching SOEs, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has had his effectiveness questioned several times over the past few months.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula told the ANC Women’s League national conference last month that Gordhan must work quicker to fix the country’s railroad problems or he will be removed. He, however, later u-turned on this criticism.

A few weeks later ANC Youth League (ANCYL) president Collen Malatji accused Gordhan of selling state-owned companies and warned if the minister was not stopped, he would sell everything, including South Africans.

Gordhan demanded an apology from Malatji for the “ill-considered” comments.

ALSO READ: A VIEW OF THE WEEK: Riverlea and Malema are proof SA is struggling with PTSD

Regardless of whether these criticisms were merited or just cheap politicking, it shows the fragile state of government institutions.

No wonder there has now been a proposal for the effectively run South African Revenue Service (Sars) to do the job of a failing entity, the SABC, to collect TV licence fees.

Effective democracy is a two-way street between government and the people, where trust is needed and must be earned. When either is babysitting the other, trust is broken.

The nation is crying, but who is watching who?