Such bitter fruits we taste on Freedom Day, with most of us waiting for handouts

For a people with a fondness for freebies, South Africans have enjoyed a boon of holidays, with Freedom Day and Workers’ Day coming just after the Easter long weekend.

With rolling blackouts added to it, April will probably have the lowest productivity rate in years. But that shouldn’t disturb us while we party. 

I have no problem with May Day. I just wish we could have a little care for the unemployed. Workers are a privileged minority. The vast majority of South Africans have no jobs, no hope.

Apart from pay, self-esteem and other benefits, work creates a structure for people’s lives. Those who spend their days ambling aimlessly often end up with the wrong crowd.

With almost half the population not in work, it is not surprising that lawlessness has become the norm.

Their sustenance falls entirely on the state. Many may regard government as a tree with low-hanging fruit; they’re employed by the state, looking for government tenders, or getting social grants or food parcels.

The state is like Father Christmas. Some grow up with a warped understanding of democracy. They think they elect a government not to enable their growth and security, but to get things for free.

It’s not unusual to hear people complaining that they won’t vote because the government failed to build them houses. They don’t see that the vote was attained at a high price and it is their civic duty to go to the polls. It also doesn’t occur to them that the most effective way to punish those in power is to bat for the other side.

But voters are not solely to blame for their ignorance. Apart from democracy being a new thing, there’s been very little voter education, and most of it has happened in a vacuum.

The lack of understanding is a function of our electoral system, which doesn’t allow for interaction between voters and those running for office. There’s little opportunity during a campaign for voters to engage candidates not only about policies, but also to get a clearer understanding of how the system works. 

That ignorance suits the politicians. President Cyril Ramaphosa has been boasting about the fact that 18-million people get social grants, as if that’s an achievement. And it’s a message we’ll hear more of with the election on the horizon.

It’s the ANC’s trump card. That more than a third of the population survive on government handouts should be seen as a sign of failure.

The solution is getting the economy roaring back to life again. It is the private sector that is the engine of growth, that creates jobs. The government only gobbles up resources. But so far we’ve been doing the opposite — hampering the growth of the private sector while increasing the size of the government, like the new electricity minister.

One would expect Ramaphosa, a supposedly successful businessman, to understand such simple concepts. But maybe not, as he too got fabulously wealthy through handouts.  

Some grow up with a warped understanding of democracy. They think they elect a government not to enable their growth and security, but to get things for free

Freedom Day has begun to grate. That day 29 years ago was a solemn, wondrous day. Centuries of struggle had finally borne fruit.

We were in awe of our singular achievement. The worst, we thought, was behind us — the discrimination, torture, detentions, unexplained disappearances and killings, the cruel denial of the pleasure to live simple, boring lives. All that was history.

We were walking on water. Our leaders, who had sacrificed years of their lives, would lead us to the land of milk and honey. They knew what we wanted — and they’d deliver.

If somebody at the time intimated that a disastrous turn of events would come to pass, they’d probably have been stoned to death. Such heresy couldn’t be tolerated. We were too trusting, gullible and naive. We forgot that settings tend to shape people’s behaviour. Our view of them was informed by their behaviour in exile. They were now in power, and of course power corrupts.

April 27 was a beautiful day, but our leaders have for 29 years worked hard to wipe the smiles off our faces. Commemoration of the day unfortunately tends to remind us of our disappointment and naiveté. The inexorable fall from the heights of 1994 to the nightmare we’re going through is too hard to take. That regret, the guilt trip, comes back forcefully to haunt us on this day. 

But what sticks in the craw is that the very culprits who landed us in this hole prance around like peacocks, making ever more grandiose promises to retain our patronage. There’s no remorse at the harm they’ve done. It’s as though this crime was committed by somebody else.

“Freedom cannot be meaningful when South African homes and businesses are without electricity in the day,” said Ramaphosa on Thursday, as though he was a complainant, not the head of state responsible for the mess. On such occasions, apartheid comes in handy. Apartheid was bad; don’t allow it to come back, “stick with us”.

That’s rubbing salt to our wounds. Nothing is more frustrating than bullies escaping their just deserts. 

Instead of making mendacious speeches, they should wear sackcloth and ashes as signs of remorse and repentance, and do an apology tour. That would at least assuage the hurt they’ve inflicted on us.