The cold spell gripping the country seems to be a reflection of the ugly mood in the land as different factions of the ruling cabal vie for supremacy to such an extent that they're prepared to literally destroy the country to achieve their aims.
And, instead of sorting out the mess they created, the comrades have been at each other's throat arguing as to who or what caused the ruination. It's not pretty.
And of course if you don't know or cannot agree on what the problem or its cause is, how can you even begin to find a solution? More importantly, how do you galvanise and unite the country behind a plan, or the police to solve the problem or prevent more devastation?
One sometimes cannot escape the awful feeling that the marauding armies of looters and insurrectionists could have been assisted or directed from inside government offices, using state resources to subvert the state. For instance, in Durban, the epicentre of the mayhem, as the city was being trashed, businesses looted and infrastructure incinerated, the mayor mysteriously vanished, only to emerge from hibernation days later singing the praises of prisoner Jacob Zuma.
With looters having done such a splendid job, the mayor is now inviting those with means to invest in his wasteland. Such an ambivalent attitude is to be found in all ANC officials. I guess looters are voters too.
One sometimes cannot escape the awful feeling that the marauding armies of looters and insurrectionists could have been assisted or directed from inside government offices, using state resources to subvert the state
Our hapless defence minister, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, an accomplished delinquent, deliberately contradicted the president not once but twice. This week, remorseful and almost pleading for her job, she said she had no intention to defy the commander-in-chief. But is the putative commander-in-chief truly in command?
He seemed a bit disengaged, making ineffectual speeches - as if that alone amounted to addressing the problem - dangling the idea of a basic income grant as a sop to the poor while almost seeming oblivious to the bickering among his minions, a far cry from the idea of taking the bull by the horns.
We may be approaching a point where President Cyril Ramaphosa's lack of resolve or spinelessness could itself pose an existential threat to the security and integrity of the country. His indecisiveness is an open invitation not only to his political enemies but to those who want to do the country harm.
But if we're to know how to not only solve the problem but to prevent it from happening again, we need to understand how it happened in the first place. Those in elevated positions who are paid big salaries to take care of these things on our behalf obviously couldn't see it coming. They don't have a clue. They're all at sea. Instead, they've turned on each other, squabbling like rats in a sack.
We've often tended to make fun of Ramaphosa's eagerness to appoint an official inquiry for every minor problem, to use a knobkierie to kill an ant, so to speak.
He's had an inquiry to mainly dislodge Tom Moyane from the SA Revenue Service, an inquiry on the Public Investment Corp, whose recommendations he has yet to act upon, and there's the big one, the commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture chaired by acting chief justice Raymond Zondo, which has been going on for more than three years.
Any suggestion of yet another inquiry is likely to induce a collective yawn from the public. People are turned off by such inquiries, which are seen as an indulgence and a waste of much-needed resources (the Zondo commission, for instance, has cost over R1bn). They're also often seen as an attempt by the executive to pass the buck and refrain from tackling an awkward or difficult issue which would have gone off the boil by the time the inquiry report comes out.
But no issue cries out more for a full and independent commission of inquiry than the mayhem that's just happened and which may just be in a lull for all we know. If, as Ramaphosa alleges, it was an insurrection or attempted coup, it makes an inquiry even more imperative and urgent. The public has a right to know who's fomenting it, who paid for it and the modus operandi. Also what steps need to be taken to avoid another such calamity.
The role of our institutions also needs to be thoroughly investigated, which is why a parliamentary inquiry that's being mooted is not a good idea. Such an inquiry would be dominated by ANC sycophants whose primary interest would be to sweep everything under the carpet. And most of the people allegedly involved in the insurrection are ANC members, and the ANC cannot investigate itself.
No issue cries out more for a full and independent commission of inquiry than the mayhem that's just happened and which may just be in a lull for all we know
The role of the law enforcement agencies, especially the police, deserves special attention. The current narrative is that soldiers had to be brought in to assist the police, who had been overwhelmed. Nothing could be further from the truth. The police, in the main, made no attempt to stop the looting.
Most of the looted malls and shops are usually near or across the street from police stations. Police in most cases either locked their gates or took part in the looting. This is not cowardly dereliction of duty; it is treason.
And where was police minister Bheki Cele? The busybody was nowhere to be seen at the height of the mayhem. Was there an instruction either from him or police headquarters for the police not to get involved?
It's hard to believe it was a coincidence that police sat on their hands in all the areas affected by the violence. If Ramaphosa had the backbone or was as outraged as the rest of us, both Cele and police commissioner Khehla Sitole would be looking for new jobs by now.
A more focused and time-bound inquiry with a livelier and more energetic chairperson could delve into the issues, warts and all, and come up with some salient solutions. It could also provide the cleansing or catharsis the country needs.
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