Citizens have no recourse against the failing government

• Thabile Mange writes:

Our democratic government is error prone: It moves from one blunder to the other. This has become normal but unacceptable. And the people who suffer the most are citizens. When will this stop?

In December last year, we had the second wave of the coronavirus – it was deadly and ruthless. Our government was caught off guard. This is despite the fact that it knew that the second wave was coming. As a result, many people contracted the virus and some died.

As if that was not enough, the government procured the vaccine late. When the vaccine finally arrived on our shores, it was the wrong one. Now it has been stored away. However, experts have advised that it can be used for elders who have co-morbidities. Our government is yet to lift a finger.

We have already entered the third wave, as predicted. Our government’s response is very sluggard. How many people must die before the government wakes up from its slumber and do the right thing?

That said, government has promised to vaccinate the citizens. Yet there is no plan and strategy that have been announced. It is only the healthcare workers that have been inoculated – and not all of them. People are going to die again.

This reminds me of the Life Esidimeni saga. The Gauteng Health Department placed patients in the hands of incapacitated NGOs. And the patients’ families were not informed about the move. So, families didn’t know where their sick loved ones were. That’s cruel.

More than 100 patients passed away because of negligence. Only one politician lost her job over that. Clearly, there is no consequence management for political leaders. Hence, they continue doing wrong things without a care.

Our democratic government keeps failing the people of South Africa. And citizens have no recourse. Waiting for five years to vote the government out is a long time. Therefore, a system needs to be developed for citizens to punish political leaders who fail them. Enough is enough.