The best can fix Jozi and SA

Oscar Wilde said the truth is rarely pure and never simple. But that does not apply if you’re a South African political commentator to whom everything is clear cut.

No matter what happens, these folk repeat an unthinking mantra. Despite evidence to the contrary, they say the DA is white. No significant political party in this country is as diverse as the DA.

Those who cited racism in their publicised departures – Mmusi Maimane, Herman Mashaba and John Moodey – each did so to evade censure. They used racism as a smokescreen to cover their tracks. An internal review last year recommended that Maimane “step down and make way for new leadership”. He could not have stayed.

Mashaba lost the support of the Johannesburg caucus and avoided an internal process to resolve a dispute. He could not have stayed.

Moodey was accused of bribing two Ekurhuleni councillors to make false allegations regarding a concocted “sex scandal” against a senior politician. He could not have stayed. When the trio each played the race card, this was lapped up by the commentariat and the ANC. It suited their prejudices.

John Steenhuisen’s election as party leader was written off as a step backwards because he is white. The party’s declaration of nonracialism was construed as regressive. Never mind that nonracialism is a founding value in chapter one, paragraph one of the South African constitution. The constitution of the governing ANC also professes nonracialism.

Yet that party is racist in practice. We all know who “our people” are in speeches by ANC representatives, including the president and Cabinet ministers.

Steenhuisen was elected with 80% support at a diverse federal congress, not because he is white but because he is good at his job. Simply the best. Competence is important to the survival and prosperity of our country.

While I admire and respect some individuals in the ANC, the governing party is hobbled by corruption and incompetence. The embarrassments at the Zondo commission hearings provide glimpses into a floundering behemoth which is dragging South Africa down.

Who governs the best-run province (Western Cape), the best-run metro (Cape Town) and Gauteng’s best-run municipality (Midvaal) among others? The blue party, which is committed to a capable state. Here, you won’t find cadre deployment, an official ANC policy which is this country’s downfall. Johannesburg residents don’t need Radio 702 or any other media to tell them the city is in a bad way.

Water and electricity outages, potholes, long-overdue repairs and a general scruffiness are symptoms. The rot didn’t start with the present “government of local unity”, or with Mashaba’s politically compromised mayorship. It’s been there for decades. There are many good people in the administration.

We work with them daily but they are outnumbered, let down by politically appointed incompetents. It remains true that if Johannesburg works, South Africa works. Right now, neither is working. As you can see.

To fix Johannesburg and heal South Africa will require many qualities. No simple, quick fixes. But competence is non-negotiable. Remember that at voting time.

Martin Williams, DA councillor and former editor of The Citizen.

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