SA will be finished if ruling party is allowed to remain in power

Niccolò Machiavelli, the Italian Renaissance diplomat, author, philosopher and historian taught us that: “One can assess a prince’s intelligence by looking at the men with whom he surrounds himself.”

His words ring true when we assess our flip-flopping princes of political leadership and the smouldering and destroyed landscape they have left in their wake.

Our political princes and their large cortege of “advisors” or “yes men” have driven us over the edge of the abyss and thrown us into a pit we are unlikely to ever escape from. A lack of decisive leadership, cadre deployment and corruption, wildcat strikes, uncontrolled crime, sabotage of critical infrastructure and services and a murder rate higher than most war zones is testimony to their incompetence. Yet they act as though they are doing a wonderful job.

When we have a ruling party where three of its very senior members are determined to champion corruption to ensure they get elected as the president of the country, we know we have a major problem ahead of us.

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The recent outburst by a sitting minister is not only disgraceful but it is also proof of their absolute disconnect with reality. We are not supposed to be a dictatorship. We are supposed to be a democracy, but it is apparent they think otherwise.

No one is allowed to question the institutionalisation of cadre deployment, criminality and mediocrity. Hiding behind their exile credentials, they have created a failed state and encouraged chaos, anarchy and disruption through ill-conceived policies and a lack of control and management.

While they hide behind their insulated kingdoms, protected by selected police officers and are able to live the high life with no load shedding, they have come to believe that we, the people, are their slaves. They believe that we, the voters, are there to serve them, now and forever.

Then, of course, we have the deputy president of our country saying that the current chaos and inability of Eskom to keep the lights burning is proof of progress. I doubt that the business community and foreign investors view our constant load shedding as a sign of great progress.

As someone commented recently, South Africa will be finished if the ruling party is allowed to remain in power if it does not undergo an urgent metamorphosis. Until that happens, we will remain without any political or economic power, but they are still in their seats.

But, of course, this is not the fault of our self-entitled ministers who live parallel lives to the rest of us slaves. Instead, it must all be blamed on everyone who is not part of the corrupt and dysfunctional leadership of the government.

Alternatively, it must be blamed on either apartheid or colonialism. What is certain, they can no longer blame apartheid nor colonialism, as we are reaping the benefits these miscreants imposed on us. But maybe they believe we ought to liberate ourselves of the perceived horrors colonialism brought us.

Perhaps we should start blaming our current state of dysfunctionality on the likes of Julius Ceasar, or maybe Ghengis Kahn, or perhaps even Adolf Hitler.

Instead of continually preaching racial intolerance and viewing the opinions and concerns of others as both dangerous dissent and treacherous, maybe our political leaders should start listening and learning.

Whereas it is very understandable to witness the groundswell of frustration and anger at the criminally dominated kakistocracy we have treating us as their slaves, we must find a way to replace those who are in power and continue championing their never-ending corruption.

We need to clean house, both in the ruling party as well as in government, if we hope to survive as a nation. We must positively channel our energy in a constructive manner to ensure those who were fingered in the Zondo report are replaced – and placed behind bars.

The Zondo commission implicated them, yet they remain firmly in place, still corrupt and still free. What type of warning does that give to those who contemplate entering a career of crime? We must work at uniting our country and regaining our lost credibility.

We need to seriously start listening to the voices of our disaffected and marginalised youth who are bearing the brunt of the incompetence of our criminally-inspired geriatric political leaders.

Our youth across all colour and party lines have realised the implications of being ruled by crooks who view us as their underlings to do with as they please. Our political leaders have for too long viewed our kindness towards them as a weakness they can exploit. We need to stop them before it is too late for us all.

Mashaba is a political advisor