There’s something about South Africans that makes us optimistic that things will be all right. It might be because many of us grew up in households where bellies remained full despite pockets being empty.
It might be the residue of the Mandela effect; the idea that a man could spent 27 years behind bars and still ascend to the presidency is the stuff of fantasies, and we’ve seen it happen here.
The release of the Zondo commission report should, however, wipe that air of eternal optimism from our sun-turned faces.
I suspect that if judges were allowed to speak plainly, acting chief justice and commission chair Raymond Zondo might have summarised his 874 pages into three crisp points:
1. WE ARE IN DEEP SH*T
It was perhaps fitting that the first part of the report was released hours after a man appeared in court for allegedly sneaking into parliament while there was no security personnel in sight and setting fire to the landmark building.
While there is some doubt over whether Zandile Christmas Mafe is the true arsonist, and his supposed modus operandi hasn’t been explained, what is clear is that this was bound to happen at some point.
The security apparatus in SA appears to be held together with sticky tape, chewing gum and the distraction of Bheki Cele’s hats. The distractions, the razzmatazz, the public displays of bravado, are all part of a dance meant to fool us into thinking there is a security apparatus.
The security apparatus in SA appears to be held together with sticky tape, chewing gum and the distraction of Bheki Cele’s hats
I mean, who would want to live in a country with no real policing and prosecution system?
I’m not talking about petty offences such as locking people up for Covid curfew violations. I’m talking about investigating murders, major corruption and the dismantling of the state.
At the handover of the report, President Cyril Ramaphosa made a surprising admission that the government won’t act on it immediately. Instead, he wants the government to “apply its mind” before devising an “implementation plan”.
This seems plausible if you forget that we’ve spent four years hearing evidence, day in and day out, on the manner in which the state was slowly dismantled to create an elite buffet for those associated with former president Jacob Zuma and his associates.
What is shocking is that an implementation plan isn’t already in draft form, with short-, medium- and long-term goals. The reality of state capture is not new; its methods have been revealed by numerous whistleblowers, but Ramaphosa wants to think some more and implement plans later.
Mr President, the time for thinking has passed.
2. THE STATE IS NOT ONLY CAPTURED, IT’S COLLAPSING
Some might argue that Ramaphosa has done some work to ameliorate the situation in SA. He’s shifted the state security department into his office, but only after the major security disaster that was the July unrest.
The pandemic saw a few coins being spread to the poor, necessary but another distraction from the real problems we face. Without a properly functioning state, all the R350 grants in the world can’t save us.
Other than rhetoric, it’s hard to see what is markedly different between ANC.JZ and ANC.CR and their administrations. The clearest evidence of the incompetence and incapacity of the Ramaphosa administration was the July riots in which 337 people were killed without even the merest mention of a day of mourning.
To contextualise, a toll of 300 dead amounts to about nine Marikana massacres.
Nobody has been held accountable and the government seems not only uninterested, but also unwilling to get to the detail of the cause of these deaths.
Another glaring example is the corruption that so easily materialised during the pandemic. It was seamless, suggesting that it picked up right where the Saxonwold gang left off, using old networks and procurement hacks to meet the demands of new beneficiaries.
We were left breathless with each new Special Investigating Unit report. And while some prosecutions are under way here and there, the core problem remains — those who work in the state and many associated with the ruling party are feasting on its carcass at the cost of the rest of the population it should be serving.
One of the key tenets of a functional state is that it should have “a monopoly of violence” — the state should have a firm handle on policing, a working justice system and enough might that people cannot be arbitrarily killed within its borders.
The July anarchy is evidence that the state has no such monopoly, and coupled with other policing failures such as break-ins at key institutions, the recent fire at parliament and ministers being held hostage by MK veterans, it’s fair to say that SA’s security structure is not functional.
Add to that Eskom’s power outages, the Passenger Rail Agency of SA’s stolen rail system and SAA’s missing millions and it’s clear the building is on fire.
Other than rhetoric, it’s hard to see what is markedly different between ANC.JZ and ANC.CR and their administrations
3. THIS IS NOT A DRILL
Often, when there is a fire drill, people don’t move. They wait for the alarm to stop or for someone to tell them this is serious and they should move. The Zondo commission report is the alarm and we don’t need anyone to tell us this is serious.
The most recent auditor-general’s report tells us that irregular expenditure reached R166.85bn at national and provincial government level in financial 2021. To contextualise this, at the height of state capture in 2015/2016, irregular expenditure sat at R46.36bn. That was a 40% increase from the 2013/2014 financial year.
Six years later, in what is meant to be a post-state capture era, irregular expenditure has quadrupled. Some of these funds may not have been stolen outright but these high levels of irregular expenditure are an indication that government policies on public spending have not only been bent, they are completely broken.
The main problem with corruption is that it’s often seen through a lens of rands and cents as opposed to lives and livelihoods. A continued state of capture will result in those 337 July deaths remaining uninvestigated because the National Prosecuting Authority has to choose where to spend its limited funds.
Unchecked corruption will have us sitting through another four-year commission in the coming decade.
Another lengthy period of consideration will result in those who have control of illicit networks in the government digging in their heels even more. It’s time to act. Prosecute those who have robbed us, the people. Fire those who flouted government policies.
This is not a drill.
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