Gangsters still dominate govt at our expense

Not a single day passes that we do not hear, read, or witness the anarchy and violence engulfing our once-great and well-respected country.

Images of burning tyres and rocks strewn across roads, along with damaged and wrecked infrastructure are daily sights.

We have become so immune to these images that we no longer care. It is a given that South Africa has, in recent years, seen more riots and protests than any time of our lives, while the SA Police Service often stand on the sidelines and watch.

The government has become blind to the ever-growing battalions of beggars that inhabit our intersections. Our unemployment rate is horrific – and growing. Yet we import workers from Cuba as government does not trust the education standards it set for its own people.

Our government has betrayed and failed us in the execution of its constitutional mandate. We only see our political leaders at election time, when they hoodwink us with more false promises and lies. How much longer can we allow this to continue?

The lack of political leadership has reached astonishing proportions. As a result of factionalism, nongovernance, endemic tenderpreneurship and political incompetence, our people have gone from poor to desperately poverty-stricken.

Although it was initially only whispered about, corruption has recently increased dramatically and the bleeding of the state’s coffers has become an entitlement of our politicians. The mantra of “from the people, for the people” has changed to “from the people, for ourselves”.

It was Nelson Mandela who said: “If the ANC government does to you what the apartheid government did, you must do to the ANC what it did to the apartheid government.”

Oliver Tambo went a step further: “A corrupt ANC will be far worse than apartheid.” He also called for breaking down the barriers of division to create a country where there were neither whites nor blacks, just South Africans, free and united in diversity.

These warnings have been ignored, lost and forgotten. Our political leaders have no desire to listen to warnings or even learn the lessons of history as we keep voting them into power.

Most South Africans applauded the much-claimed “anticorruption” stance the government promised.

The only ones who expressed some concerns were those who were already deeply embedded in corruption networks. Their fears were, however, short-lived as it quickly became apparent that there was no true political will to stamp out corruption.

Zero tolerance towards corruption was simply an invitation to become even more corrupt. Already nearing breaking
point under the yoke of taxation and an increasingly high cost of living, the average South African has become angrier about how we are being bankrupted by a small incompetent, corrupt ruling elite.

They have been living off the fat of the land while we must be satisfied with the occasional crumbs they drop.

Those who risk exposing the cancerous malignancy in our government find themselves at many disadvantages, something I can attest to.

Writers and whistleblowers who view corruption as a crime are viewed as “disloyal” and are subjected to harassment, such as surveillance of their families and threatening phone calls.

Behind the facade of governance, our people are being downtrodden by a factionalist and increasingly thuggish
government.

Those who dare speak out are threatened. We now have a communist-inspired government where truth is punishable and corruption accepted.

With looming local elections, a ruling party spokesperson recently stated that candidates would be strictly selected as lessons had been learned.

It is ironic that it took them 27 years to learn basic lessons regarding incompetence and corruption.

But rogue politicians and gangsters still dominate the government – at our expense. South Africans from all walks of life are sick and tired of the criminality and failed socioeconomic trajectory we are on.

We need to stand together – something we are very capable of – and demand accountability from our political leaders.

We must also demand disclosure of how they acquired their eye-watering wealth in such a short space of time.

If not, we will simply continue voting ourselves into poverty while being led by rogues and gangsters.

• Mashaba is a political advisor