The State of the Nation

The latest survey of FutureBrand sets out the annual Country Brand Image Index.  The bottom line of this survey, which looks at the brand recognition and image of countries shows that South Africa does not figure in the top twenty-five countries.  ‘The Future Fifteen, a ranking of 15 country brands on course to transform the global landscape economically, politically and culturally in years to come’, equally fails to mention South Africa.

It is frightening that a country with the financial and technological pre-eminence that the country had at the start of the ANC rule, has fallen so far in practically every aspect that should have made it a leader in the continent, if not in the world.  However, when one hears the President, Jacob Zuma, stating baldly that ‘many mistakes have been made, much needs to be corrected’, one comes to understand that the ANC does not, and never did, have the capability of managing a country as complex as this.  Every aspect of what the ANC has done appears to have been a failure.  Education, the mainstay of a country’s development and the driver of its prosperity, has been a disaster under ANC rule, from the abject failure of the ‘Outcomes Based Education System’ that left two generations of pupils uneducated, through the fiddling of the Matric and University results, that has made a South African degree a worthless piece of paper, to the continuing failure to do even the smallest things correctly – to deliver text books on time – has not even achieved the admission by a Minister of Basic Education that her tenure was a failure – ‘I did nothing wrong’ could, perhaps, have been replaced by ‘I did nothing’!  In any advanced country, a Court judgement compelling a Minister of State to do his or her duty under law would have been a compelling reason to resign. 

The statement by the Minister of Public Enterprises that the resignation en masse by the Board of Directors of South Africa Airways, to the effect that it did not signal a crisis in the company was a similar example of singular ineptitude.  When a Board of Directors resigns, it is signalling to the shareholders – in this case the public of South Africa – that something is seriously wrong.  A Director resigns because he or she feels that a situation is present or developing that he or she cannot control and cannot condone.  The blithe comment that ‘there is no crisis’ is a clear indication that the Minister has no clue about the responsibilities that have been entrusted to him.  It is a clear call for the resignation of that Minister.

The application by Eskom for tariff increases of 16% p.a. for the next five years is another clear indication that the Government has failed abjectly, either in its management of the utility, or in the appointment of people to undertake that management.  Electricity is such an imperative for development of the nation that Eskom should have been high on the list of priorities for the Government back in 1994.  The fact that it has gone so badly wrong is in itself a reason for the Government to resign.

The massively high rate of unemployment – over 25% - is another indictment of the ANC’s incapability to manage as complex an economy as South Africa’s.  There are constant claims that the South African economy is doing better than most others in the current circumstances are blatantly untrue.  If unemployment in Germany were to reach 10%, the Government would fall, yet the German economy continues to mark up good scores on every front, and the Chancellor does not boast of the achievements of her Government, as the ANC so constantly does.  When the Premier of the Eastern Cape was warned in 1996 that the rate of unemployment was unacceptably high, the response of ‘but it’s only 69%!’ by the MEC for economic Development did not elicit any response from the Premier!  Another two resignations that should have happened!

The case of two men wrongly convicted for murder, and spending nineteen years behind bars was referred to the Minister of Justice in 1999, after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that it was unable to grant amnesty ‘because the two men did not admit that they were guilty and seek pardon!’  Yet at the end of 2012, the Deputy Minister for Justice was seeking to explain away the incompetence of his Department and promising to attend to the matter immediately!  One wonders why the matter has not been dealt with during the nearly three years they have been considering the matter.  One also wonders how it was possible for Presidential Pardon or early parole to be granted to 25 000 convicted criminals, yet two innocent men, who were not in any way unknown to the Government, should be forced to continue serving a sentence that was proven many years ago to be unjust.

The matter of the Arms Scandal still lingers, staining the reputations of the many ANC politicians who were party at least to the cover-up of this monumental misappropriation of public money, yet the misuse of public funds continues unabated, as seems to be demonstrated by the expenditure of more than a hundred million Rands and the refusal by the Minister of Public Works to inform Parliament of the amount, the reasons and the justification in law for the expenditure.  Yet the players known to be involved in that ignominious phase of South Africa’s decline to the level of the typical Banana Republic remain prominent amongst the lead members of the ANC.

The continuing failure of the Government to ensure that its own commitments to the poorest of the public, such as the provision of housing, the supply of water and sewerage to poor communities, is a factor that has led those affected by the poor performance to resort to violent protests, including stoning of cars on national roads, burning of Councillors’ houses, and even murder of public and Party officials, a disturbing new trend that leads one to think of the days when the ANC still behaved as a terrorist organisation.

Given these many failings and shortcomings, and the candid confession of the State President that the Government continues to make the mistakes and is searching for yet another fix, it is no surprise that the country’s ranking in almost every field of assessment continues to slide – education, honest Government, transparency of law enforcement, ease of establishment of new businesses, ability to retain business and technical competence, and many others.  There can be no doubt that the slide will continue, and the rate of decline will steepen.  There can be no doubt that South Africa will continue its almost inevitable course towards a collapsed economy.  There can be no hope that South Africa will recover its standing as the dominant economy of Africa.

All concerned citizens should now take note, and understand that the ANC is not capable of providing a decent, honest and competent Government for the country.  Action must be commenced now to replace the corruption and incompetence with any Government that does not include the ANC bed-fellows. 

The opinion is diverse on who will provide the leadership that the country so desperately needs.  Several Parties have credentials that are good in this regard.  However, the ANC has proven conclusively in the most decisive way that they are not the Party for the future.