You can keep your flowery rhetoric... South Africa wants action!
The problem with politicians is they don’t deliver. You need only follow a Cabinet Minister on the campaign trail to back up this statement. During township walkabout the minister functions like a machine built for converting the proletariat’s complaints
As I pen these lines I’m waiting with the rest of the nation to hear what President Jacob Zuma says in his State of the Nation Address. I’ve been reading the pre-speech commentary sprouted by opposition party leaders and journalists with keen interest and couldn’t resist sharing some of my thoughts on the issue. By the time you read this you’ll know how close my views were to the mark.
Promises, promises turned to dust
Before I get down to what Zuma might (or might not say) in his address I’d like to “describe” 2011 South Africa using a verse from a popular Beautiful South song, A Little Time. The verse in question reads:
Promises, promises turn to dust
Wedding bells just turn to rust
Trust into mistrust
Almost two decades into democracy and two of these “lines” have proven true. Each year – more intensely before a national election – the ruling party repeats a long list of promises to the country’s citizens. They promise decent work and houses. They promise free healthcare and social welfare. They promise flush toilets to replace the hated Apartheid “bucket” system. And they promise clear running water for all. You need only visit some of the outlying villages in rural KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga or Limpopo Province – or one of the informal settlements around any of the country’s urban areas – to discover these promises have turned to dust.
The “wedding bells” which rang so clearly over our new democracy when the country went to the polls back in 1994 are ringing hollow today too. They’ve turned to rust, as has the gift of the so-called rainbow nation.
Yet the people still trust
If it wasn’t for the overwhelming majority achieved by the African National Congress (ANC) at the last national election I would’ve said the electorate was fed up by now. But the country’s long-suffering citizens seem to lap up each new promise with the same enthusiasm as they received the previous one. What will the President promise this time around? I believe there are four issues he needs to address urgently, namely unemployment, the constant threat of nationalisation, the state of the country’s public health and education. My gut tells me he will focus on the jobs issue, sidestep nationalisation, address education with a mind to lure young voters to the polls, and pretend the pending National Health Insurance will cure the country’s health woes.
Let’s kick off with the jobs debate. The Democratic Alliance’s Tim Harris suggested earlier this week that the ruling party stop “tinkering around the edges” of the unemployment crisis. “For once the president needs to ignore the narrow, vested interests of his alliance partners and do the right thing by announcing broad and deep reforms of our labour market,” he said. His hard-hitting statement cut to the heart of the problem government faces in dealing with job creation – the unworkable alliance between organised labour (the Congress of South African Trade Unions), the communists (the SA Communists Party) and a liberation / struggle movement (the ANC). Instead of “hands dirty” action, these three institutions are at loggerheads over ideologies.
The ANC (or should we say Cosatu) wants to introduce massive changes to labour legislation, including jobs for life and doing away with labour broking. Adcorp CEO Richard Pike said (on Thursday, 10 February) that around 1.1 million jobs could be lost if the proposed labour law amendments are implemented. The ANC (or should we say SACP) wants wage caps and to freeze director bonuses. And the ANC (the real ANC this time) is willing to step down on the “decent” job issue. A party cannot drive forward a cohesive jobs plan if it cannot resolve the outcomes internally. That’s why all we hear is the promise of a million job opportunities – or five million jobs – with no hope of “real world” outcomes.
This threesome will derail South Africa Inc
The same argument holds for the nationalisation debate. Zuma doesn’t want to nail the ANC National Executive colours to the mast for fear of upsetting other members of the alliance. Indeed – he may even be side stepping the issue to string the ANC Youth League along. With municipal elections just around the corner the ruling party wants the youth squarely in its corner – and if that means agreeing to debate nationalisation, so be it. It’s also for this reason I expect Zuma will announce more details of a R10 billion youth employment fund, expand on his “free university” idea, and refuse to rap the National Youth Development Agency on the knuckles for burning R100 million on a youth ‘carnival’ last year.
I’ll direct the final rant in today’s Stokes’ Stage column at the NHI. Because government’s proposed healthcare solution is about to morph into the most expensive vote buying exercise in South Africa’s history. The objective of free and equitable healthcare for all cannot be faulted – but rushing ahead to implement the system despite a fat “cross” in every resource checkbox is simply inexcusable…
Editor’s thoughts: It’s difficult to take a swipe at the ruling party without being branded a cynic, racist or both. But I really think it’s in South Africa’s best interests for labour and the ANC to part ways. We cannot afford to delay the important decisions while this ruling alliance sorts out its issues through the media and on the global stage. Do you think its time for the three members of the ruling party alliance to go their separate ways? Add your comment below, or send it to gareth@fanews.co.za
Comments