SA edging closer to economic and political implosion

In 1985, the late, great, US-based journalist Christopher Hitchens visited the exiled ANC in Zambia.

While there, he popped over to Zimbabwe and interviewed Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

He spoke to as many experts as he could to make sense of the actions of the cruel apartheid regime in SA.

On his return to the US, he told an interviewer: “If the [SA] government doesn’t change it will be changed by force ... there will be a revolution.” 

Apartheid had been official policy in SA for 37 years.

To enforce it, the National Party hanged hundreds of freedom fighters. It jailed thousands of anti-apartheid activists.

It also ran a ruthless military apparatus that maimed and killed hundreds of people across the world. 

By 1985, it was clear SA was headed for serious rupture.

Observers like Hitchens could see it. Yet the government would not recognise or acknowledge the signs of the imminent collapse. 

In the months after Hitchens’ visit, the country exploded with unprecedented violence.

SA became a military state. Thousands were jailed and killed in protests.

Hitchens’ revolution was at the door. 

The SA of today is nothing like the SA of 1985.

Yet we can draw some lessons from that period and avert implosion by formulating some solutions — quickly. 

As a start, most South Africans will agree with the statement that the country is in trouble.

The country has been in trouble since 2008 and has continued on a downward path ever since.

The troubles are numerous and are obvious to all: a moribund economy; abject poverty and huge unemployment; unprecedented violence against women and the citizenry; an education system that’s unfit for purpose; an unresponsive and kleptocratic leadership. 

The last one is the most damaging and dangerous.

If the leadership issue is not resolved urgently, SA’s dream of building a prosperous, nonracial and democratic entity will remain stuck in first gear. 

When President Cyril Ramaphosa ascended to power in December 2017, his election, accompanied by slogans about a new civil engagement and “renewal” of the ruling party that would see a return to the ethos of leaders such as Walter Sisulu and others, gave many across the nation huge hope.

His call for citizen volunteerism (“Thuma Mina” or “send me” reverberated across the nation) inspired a nation and saw individuals and the business sector pledge human and financial support to his reorganisation of the government and the economy. 

Seven years in, Ramaphosa is sapped of energy. His government says and does many of the things that his discredited predecessor did.

The president repeats the vision he presented to us in 2018, but his government’s policies and actions speak of a different administration.

Laziness and corruption among politicians and civil servants are tolerated and sometimes encouraged; unethical behaviour is allowed to fester; and service delivery is non-existent.

As seen with the debacle in the Setas, unethical ministers are fired after months of foot dragging, only to be replaced by individuals who do the same thing.

It seems the problem is not the individuals. It is the system. It is rotten to its core, and the president and his team are either incompetent or incapable of fixing it. 

So, the stinking, rotting, burning, train coach runs on, stuck on a track it cannot exit, destined to blow up and come to a halt in flames. 

Which brings me back to Hitchens’ warning of a revolution back in 1985. 

There is too much chatter, too much disgruntlement, that this government is taking for granted.

Almost every sector of society is in a state of uproar.

The police services are corrupt and divided. Police leaders are at constant loggerheads with their political principals.

The army is restive, and generals are making threatening statements.

In communities across the nation, gangsters rule. Crime is out of control.

In many townships, drugs have so ravaged communities that feral nyaope-addled youngsters rule by intimidation, theft and violence. 

All these factors would ordinarily force the government, particularly one already in trouble with voters, to change.

Yet, except for lovely speeches by the president, the past seven years have been wasted. 

Ramaphosa and the ANC’s failure to change fundamentally for the better — in policy and in action — are pushing SA closer and closer to an economic and political implosion. 

The signs are all there. 

We are a year into the government of national unity. It is still a strong opportunity for the government and the country to achieve something remarkable.

By identifying and ruthlessly implementing between five and ten key areas of quick change with a timeline of just one year, SA’s story can change dramatically.

We need to prioritise these key actions and behave as if we are in a state of emergency.

We are a country in an ongoing crisis, and we must do things differently. Quickly. 

Heed Hitchens’ words: “If the government doesn’t change it will be changed by force ... there will be a revolution.”