One hopes that President Cyril Ramaphosa, while offering words of comfort to those affected by the deadly floods in KwaZulu-Natal during the joint sitting of parliament on Tuesday, will warn the hyenas in his party that any attempt to profit from the tragedy will not be tolerated.
I doubt that they'll listen, though. They're already licking their chops. The public have every reason to be wary of how the huge sums will ultimately be spent. Will it be another bonfire for the comrades?
Sadly, we've learnt to take what the president says with a pinch of salt. He's made promises before that he hasn’t been able to fulfil. One also has to ask if it's even necessary to squander scarce resources on this special sitting; there’s nothing new he will tell us about this catastrophe that we don't already know. Talking about problems instead of solving them seems to be our special trait.
But if you want to be cynical, KwaZulu-Natal is politically important for him. It's his soft underbelly, if you like. It's the only part of the country where an organised group of people within his own party seem to be actively working to defeat him. Such calamities as the floods and the July unrest allow him to remain engaged with the region, to show he cares.
There's also the small matter of that meeting in December. But whatever promises he makes may come back to bite him if they remain unfulfilled by year-end.
The death and destruction in KwaZulu-Natal bring to the fore in dramatic fashion the issue of climate change, a subject that is still — despite commitments by the government to international forums — peripheral to our daily lives. It has hardly seeped into our discourse, even among the elite.
I guess someone scrounging for a scrap of food or a roof over their head is unlikely to worry too much about dangers that are supposedly lying in wait for the next generation. But the government doesn't seem to have done much to raise public awareness. This disaster, therefore, is a rude awakening that the government needs to move beyond making pious international commitments; it needs to educate the public and take concrete steps to mitigate the crisis.
The government needs to move beyond pious international commitments; it needs to educate the public and take concrete steps
But not everything that has happened in the past few weeks can be attributed to the wrath of nature.
Government neglect, incompetence and corruption have obviously played their part. The issue of dirt and blocked drains, for instance, is not only a problem for Durban or KwaZulu-Natal; it affects the whole country. Public facilities or infrastructure are rarely maintained. Where maintenance or new construction are carried out, the contracts, often at inflated prices, are given to politically connected individuals who are not always up to the job. For instance, some of the RDP houses washed away in the floods have been built by individuals known to be close to senior ANC officials.
And because of the dire shortage of housing, the government has tended to turn a blind eye to people erecting structures in valleys or alongside seemingly gentle streams that turn into raging floods during the rainy season. That, as we've witnessed, has been a dereliction of duty, with deadly consequences.
There are already fears that the calamity is manna from heaven for SA’s twin pathologies of incompetence and corruption. The scale of the damage and destruction is so extensive and covers such a wide area it is doubtful that the government has sufficient capabilities to deal with it.
There are already fears that the calamity is manna from heaven for SA’s twin pathologies of incompetence and corruption
People are not only in need of water, electricity and food; many don't have a place to sleep, their houses having been washed away. It's hard to see the government promptly getting on top of such a mammoth task. Tempers in some communities are already fraying. There's also the possibility of the spread of disease.
Ramaphosa has already set aside R1bn for KwaZulu-Natal, without first having done any assessment of the situation. The amount is therefore a thumb-suck. A wise man once said if you can't measure it, you can't manage it. The overall cost will obviously be more, enough to wet looters’ appetites. Ramaphosa's assurances that the money will be properly spent are not worth the paper they are written on.
Which is why there have been calls for the funds to be allocated to aid agencies. People don't trust the government with their money. They have every reason not to. We've been here before. By the time the pilfering of funds intended for personal protective equipment was discovered, it was too late. The crow had already flown off with the cheese. Ramaphosa threatened all sorts of damnation, but like all his other promises, nothing has come of it.
KwaZulu-Natal is the epicentre of corruption. The place is crawling with corrupt comrades. They aren't very good at what they're paid to do. It seems the only thing they know is how to steal. They can't help themselves. There must be something in the water.
Premier Sihle Zikalala tried to allay public concerns by giving assurances that none of the R1bn earmarked for flood relief will end up in private pockets. This week he was caught stealing water. Which just about sums up the type of leaders we have — always looking after No 1, even if it means bending the rules. Corruption is no longer a matter of a few rotten apples. It goes right to the top. The foxes are guarding the henhouse.
People in KwaZulu-Natal have been through a lot these past two years — first Covid, then the chaos and pillaging of July last year and now the devastating floods that have literally washed their lives away. It would be truly tragic if, having suffered so much, they were again to fall victim to corruption and incompetence from those meant to help them in their hour if need.
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