The inevitable collapse

As the pending economic catastrophe continues to build, the Deputy President has joined the bandwagon, admitting that numerous mistakes have been made by ‘previous administrations’, and promising that the current bunch will do better.  Thinking South Africans will be excused for saying that they have heard it all before.  They did not believe it then, and they believe it even less now.  Perhaps the Honourable Deputy President should learn that the ANC of five, ten, fifteen or twenty years ago is the same ANC that continues to mismanage the once-strong South African economy.  The truth is that the ANC has demonstrated clearly that it has no ability to ensure the provision of the fundamentals necessary to build the country, but has chosen to use the country as a resource to build their personal wealth, in a fashion typical of numerous other African banana republics.

 

What are the fundamentals of a strong economy?

The first fundamental is an education system that produces children who are capable of working productively in the economy.  No-one, apart from the ANC, can claim that South Africa has that system.  The ‘improvements’ in the Matric pass rate have been achieved by reducing the pass rate to 30%!  Can you imagine driving over a bridge designed by an engineer who achieved 30% in Maths?  Can you imagine a coal storage bunker to hold 10 000 tons of material being designed by such a man, or a shopping mall?  Oops!  We have those examples!

The second fundamental is a civil service that is both competent and honest.  No-one, apart from the ANC, can claim that South Africa has that civil service.  The Deputy President has claimed proudly that nearly 30% of the municipalities have achieved a clean audit report!  Isn’t it remarkable that the pass rate on audit reports is the same as that required for a Matric?  In any civilized society, a government that achieves less than 100% clean audits for its activities would be thrown out at the next election, or, more likely, would take the honourable route of resigning and handing over the reins of government to a competent group of people.  Unfortunately, honour is a concept that is foreign to the ANC, as has been shown so clearly by the shenanigans of the State President.

The third fundamental is a government that the people trust, headed by a man of impeccable credentials.  The laws governing banks and insurance companies require that every senior officer and Director of such institutions should be a ‘fit and proper person’.  The standards used to determine this quality include history of conduct, relevant education, current competence and other similar factors.  On that basis, very few of our numerous Ministers and Deputy Ministers, not to mention the senior civil servants, would qualify.  Does that mean that the management of the country requires a lower standard of competence and integrity than the management of a bank or insurance company?

The fourth fundamental is that the government recognizes the needs for infrastructure investment and ensures that the requirements of the developing economy are met before they become bottlenecks.  Things like roads, rail systems, electricity supply, telephone and internet systems, postal service, are all essential elements of a modern economy.  Not one of those elements is met to anywhere near the level required by South Africa.  However, this cannot surprise anyone who understands that the State President was not aware of the R246 000 000 being spent on his personal estate!

The fifth fundamental is that the people of the country have a Government that they can, and do, trust.  South Africans have, unfortunately, become accustomed to the lies and dissimulations of the senior members of Government, their avoidance of pointed questions even in Parliament, their consistent unwillingness to comply with the law in relation to disclosure of information.  They have learned to question the motivations of the top people in everything they do, to the extent that a popular talk show host asked what the State President was doing in Russia recently.  The answer came a couple of days later, when Russia announced that it had signed a contract to supply R111 billions of nuclear power stations to South Africa!  In the climate of distrust that now prevails, the frenzied attempts by the Departments of Energy and Public Works to explain that these were really only pre-tender feelings out of the capabilities of possible suppliers all fell on deaf ears.  The question, however, remains unanswered.  What was the President doing in Russia? The events related to the Arms Deal are still creating ripples, regardless of the attempts by the Commission to paper over the cracks.

The sixth fundamental is that the government does what is required to ensure that as many people as possible are enabled to look after themselves.  With 17 000 000 grant recipients, living on the backs of 4 200 000 taxpayers, that can certainly not be said to be the case in South Africa!  Add to that the fact that 27% of all employees in South Africa are employed by the Government.  Experience of the competence of all forms of government must lead to the conclusion that at least half of those Government employees are in reality recipients of a different form of social grant.  It requires little intelligence to understand that this is a situation that cannot continue.  But then, intelligence is not one of the noteworthy attributes of the present Government.

 

It is clear that South Africa is on an accelerating decline.  The only question is how long it will take to collapse. 

The process of collapse will be painful to all in the country, and the longer it takes for that collapse to reach the nadir, the more pain will be suffered, and the longer and harder the recovery will be.  The Germans have a saying:  rather an end with suffering than suffering without end.  We collectively have the choice, to allow it all to continue, or to put an end to it, the right way or the hard way.  Perhaps it is time for those with their hands on economic power to stand up and say ‘No more!’  Perhaps it is time to recognise that this country belongs to the people who work to support it, not to the parasites who steal from the public.