If the state is judging the state of the nation, then it’s up to the nation to judge the state of the state
The shower head is back: and this time it’s super-sized. I’ll be interested to see its proportions and position after yesterday’s State of the Nation Address. Last night President Zuma was in your lounge addressing you via SABC on his view of the state of our nation. Considering that his official verdict differed in detail from my unofficial own, and knowing that this is exactly where the devil is said to lie, I thought I’d scan the national headlines and use these as a barometer of truth for his talk.
The themes covered in the papers are largely in keeping with those mentioned in Zuma’s address: the 2010 Fifa World Cup™, crime, governance, service delivery, the fight against HIV/Aids, good governance and accountability and our democracy 20 years on from Mandela’s release. So let’s go through a few of them:
One issue on Zuma’s agenda was the 2010 Fifa World Cup™, with our president emphasising how we are on schedule in our preparations, and encouraging citizens to celebrate the event, buy tickets to attend matches and support Bafana Bafana. While I share in his optimism about the event, there was much that was not said in his speech. His celebratory line was similar to that expressed on the City of Joburg’s website: “Match venues are upgraded and ready; there is safety and security around match precincts and free access to the city; there are adequate healthcare services and facilities; there is a concrete financial environment; there is a reliable public transport system; infrastructure can cope with the volume of people expected … “
While the website celebrates the “greening” of Soweto with the planting of 200 000 trees in advance of foreign tourists, it fails to engage with what I see as the double standards of provision. My guess is that if local residents were asked what they would most value as a government provision, running water, sanitation, electricity or healthcare would trump trees. I am also sceptical of the local government’s choice of the accessible and tour-guided Soweto over Alexandra, Orange Farm or Zevenfontein, for example.
On the subject of our national image during the World Cup was this week’s Mail & Guardian headline: “Vuvuzelas not instruments of war”, recounting Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa’s assurance to “sensitive” Europeans that the vuvuzela is not an instrument of violence and that “It takes an African, a South African, to understand … ” After having a good giggle at his statement, I must confess that I’m not convinced it is the vuvuzelas that are stopping sensitive Europeans from buying tickets, but rather a reality that not even a stab-proof vest can protect against:
My Facebook homepage shows a friend’s status saying how he became “an official JHB statistic” on Monday when he was forced to lie down with a 9mm pushing into his face and was stripped of his possessions. A concerned comment from a friend empathises, recounting a similar experience that occurred outside her house on Saturday. Joburg’s assurances of security around match precincts are of little consequence if safety is threatened in cars and homes. Also making headlines yesterday was the news that e.tv’s self-confessed criminal is allegedly “schizophrenic”, which is sad for him, but I’m not sure is relevant to the greater issues at hand in his fame: a) gun-happy criminals waiting for World Cup visitors in order to enact colonial redistribution or just chance their luck for forex through crime, and b) the subsequent police subpoenas on the media for their (albeit sensationalist) interviews with the criminals.
Another headline declares: “ANC distances itself from Mpumalanga hit list”, in reference to an alleged hit list targeting people who stood in the way of access to Soccer World Cup tenders that was first reported by the Sunday World. Reports about this alleged hit list resurfaced this week, when the Sunday Times listed the names of at least 12 local leaders who had died under “suspicious circumstances” in Mpumalanga since 1998, received death threats, disappeared or survived assassination attempts. While the hit list may prove nothing more than conspiracy theory or media hype, and the murders bizarre coincidence, the fact that these links are even possible are worrying.
This, then, leads into the issue of crime, which Zuma addressed briefly, promising a ruthless fight against crime by the police and state security. Unsurprisingly, though, he was not brave enough to confront the recent reports of crime by (or with links to) the police and security agents themselves. This week alone, there have been several such stories:
Rwandan-born, South African resident Deo Kaitesi was allegedly accosted by police who shocked him with cattle prods, burnt his genitals with a cigarette lighter, sprayed teargas at him, stole R300 from his wallet and called him “amakwerekwere”, a derogatory name for foreigners. “They told me ‘this is not your land’. I was numb. I know you don’t fight the police so I put my hands up. It was all I could do,” he said.
Knysna police officers are being investigated for the rape of a woman by two on-duty cops in a marked police van on the Knysna main road on Saturday. The woman had left a restaurant after arguing with some friends and upon seeing a parked police van, asked them for assistance. The driver pulled her into the van and the passenger allegedly raped her.
Sheryl Cwele, estranged wife of South Africa’s state security minister Siyabonga Cwele, appears in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on drug charges tomorrow. While Siyabonga claims he knew nothing of her actions, I’m not sure which is worse: the state security minister knowing and doing nothing to stop her; the state security minister not even knowing such an intimate and accessible crime or the possibility that he is also somehow involved. Either way, it is disappointing that he has not stepped down from his position in order for this to be resolved without compromise to his, and his government’s, integrity.
This story is all the more ironic given that President Zuma demanded greater accountability and more prudent leadership from his cabinet ministers and provincial premiers in his address. Though this is certainly a laudable demand, I’m unsure both of the sincerity of this statement and also of what it means in practical terms, considering Zuma’s current controversies around presidential pardons and presidential apologies. I would have immense respect for Zuma, were he to confront these issues openly, but his tactic thus far has been to keep his head down for as long as possible until the public pressure makes this impossible. It is not realistic or indeed fair to expect greater accountability and more prudent leadership from cabinet ministers and provincial premiers if the president is not held to his own expectations of others.
These personal indiscretions were conveniently offset by the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison. Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya acknowledged that: “This particular [State of the Nation] is a celebration of Mandela’s legacy, which exemplifies the principles of forgiveness, humility, good governance, tolerance, equality and a collective effort to ease the burden of poverty and social ills. The day will bring all South Africans together to mark the defining moment in the history of the country.” While this is clearly an important anniversary to mark, it should not be celebrated ahistorically as ending the oppression of apartheid and ushering in freedom and democracy, but also as an opportunity to assess our democracy and the ability of citizens to translate democratic freedoms into what The Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen calls “substantive freedoms” — such as the ability to live to old age or to engage in economic transactions. It is because of the hard-won democratic freedoms embodied in Mandela’s release from prison 20 years ago that we must so cautiously guard and fiercely defend them.
I found the address largely vacuous. While the things that our president did say were largely uncontroversial, it’s also important to consider what he did not say. As he has failed to address many of the questions we have and the insecurity we feel, it might be time for the media to ask him a few questions more directly.
Women weep when men fail and many of us are doing just that. We have so many good people here and so many twits who mess it up completely.
I work with the police and know the successes. There are good police officers. Why does Cele let the bad ones carry one?
I found it to be a bland speech written by a speech writer for him to recite. I did not believe a word of it. I love my country but I am ashamed and very concerned about the terrible state of basic education, public healthcare, policing, violent crime and of course corruption & incompetence within government. The majority of senior government officials do not care about the people they are there to serve. If they did, heads would be rolling because of work simply not being done. They are content to sit there and earn a salary for doing nothing. I am by no means suggesting it is everyone but it is enough of them to render our government services almost useless. Of course it is always the poor and vulnerable who suffer the most. If Pres Zuma is serious about fighting crime and corruption let him demonstrate it by sending Mr. Shaik back to prison now that he has miraculously recovered from his ‘terminal’ illness. Let him show it but firing the big wig police guy in charge who spent a quarter of a million rands living it up in a 5 star hotel with his entourage while his free government home was being upgraded. Let him prove he is serious about education by forcing sub standard teachers (who cannot pass the matric subjects that they teach) to be re trained or fired. Will he do any of the above? Of course not.
Agree with your article.Bottom Line: The ANC ,simply put..is unfortunately ROTTEN TO THE CORE. The Dictum: You can BS SOME of the people SOME of the time..but not ALL the People ALL of the time…does,unfortunately, not apply to the unthinking masses. Good Governance.. is not necessarily ,making always the ‘right decisions’…but rather a case, of just not making too many of the wrong decisions. Our elected Government – and by association, therefore – all us South Africans – have failed dismally on this score – in accepting(no..supporting and encouraging) to have that “moral and ethical crossbar”, at the level of a gutter. To the unthinking masses, that remain addicted to their own poverty..NATIONALISM trumps CHANGE ..no matter how sick and rotten, that core is. And that is in my opinion, the real double tragedy!! Cry the beloved country.
I appeal to my fellow South Africans to unite and hold our leaders accountable for 60 odd years of misrule, oppression and abuse of position and power. Starting with De Klerk, his Cabinet and the unfinished business of the TRC. And then we can deal with Mbeki and his Cabinet. To President Zuma and his Cabinet let the message be clear: we are watching you. You are collectively accountable to US – the citizens of the Republic of South Africa.
We cannot move forward together – as a nation – without first confronting and dealing with our past. If we do not deal with our past, history will simply repeat itself. We need Justice and Accountability for past wrongs, to destroy the culture of impunity that is currently destroying South Africa. We should, however, understand that our current and past leaders are most reluctant to deal with the past – as they are the past. An inglorious past.
Let’s hold our leaders accountable to US – the citizens of the Republic of South Africa. Then we can move forward – together – as South Africans – united in our diversity. Let us learn the painful lesson: to never, ever trust politicians – of any ilk – again. Our future depends on US. So – let’s not get distracted by the World Cup.
A vacuous person will produce a vacuous speech. Actually, nothing Zuma says is relevant. His actions speak volumes–all of them empty.
The irony is that the many good people put the bad people in the position to lead the country badly.
Ready for 2010 WC? With 3 months to go: “Match venues are upgraded…; there is safety and security around match precincts and free access to the city”:
It takes 2-3 hours to travel from Pretoria to Johannesburg. Indeed your are free to do so but pay dearly in time and petrol.
“there is a reliable public transport system…???” Where? What happened to the rapid bus????
“..infrastructure can cope with the volume of people expected….” See my previous comment on a trip from Joh’burg to Pretoria or VV.
With 3 months to go….the chaos on the main arteries in and around J’burg and Pretoria is such that anyone who has followed the progress on these projects over the last two-three years cannot believe that all will be finished and ready to welcome foreigners, the majority of which is used to drive on the right, used to lights on the highways, used to clear lineage and used to clear and proper signage.
I will not be surprised if the accidents on the roads will match the Christmas carnage. Call me a pessimist or a doom sayer. Too many South African drivers are impolite kamikaze style pilots.
EU and US citizens are generally a little more accommodating in their behaviour on the roads.
Let’s hope and pray for the best.
Just as you found President Zuma’s vacuous so too do I found your article – a largely vacuous rant using this platform for scaremongering rather than covering the topics in his address.
The mere fact that you buy into the hoaxes propagated by some in our media “stab proof vests”, foreign journalists being “brutalized”, vuvuzelas being “instruments of war” etc. etc. and graphically recant sensationalist acts of violence, shows the spiteful intent to scare away international visitors to sabotage the biggest sporting event in the history of Africa! This is shameful.
It seems to me that in practice the government believes in an economy that is comprised mainly of ‘paid positions’. A ‘paid position’ is one to which a regular salary is attached and preferably some social standing as well, and that is all. Competent task execution is certainly not a requisite part of any such ‘paid position’.
Consequently a ‘paid position’is something that those responsible for allocating such positions can happily reserve for cronies, friends, family, and party loyalists. The fact that these positions are financed from the public purse rather than from revenue directly earned from customers is a God send because there is absolutely no need for those occupying these positions to be at all concerned with ‘service delivery’ and other such irrelevances.
In other words, a lame duck president at the head of a lame duck government populated by lame duck ministers and lame duck bureaucrats…….QUACK!
@da supporter: “In other words, a lame duck president at the head of a lame duck government populated by lame duck ministers and lame duck bureaucrats…….QUACK!”…………
you forgot: “put in their positions repeatedly by 60% of the electorate”.
What does this tell you about the Saffers??
Gone are the days when the State President was addressed as ‘Your Excellency’ (to his face) and ‘his excellency’ (in general writing). Not that presidents are necessarily excellent at what they are supposed to be doing, in fact some are real failures, if their critics are to be believed. When George Washington was elected to be the first US president considerable time was apparently spent on how to address him. ‘Your majesty’ was out as he was not a king, but apparently it was still a contender. Eventually they settled on Mr President, an expression/custom which South Africa seems to have adopted as well. When Daniel had his dream of a giant stature, his nocturnal gaze, beginning at the head of gleaming gold, wandered down towards -eventually- the feet of clay. No soldier would be able to fight with feet of clay, much less a general. Our President may be the constitutional supremo of the armed forces, the police and the whole other tutti, with feet of clay the future of said won’t be rosy. And that, in my view, is the state of the nation. (another American adoption).
Dames en here: sy edele, die staats prissedent, meneer Jacob Zuma, met sy staat van die nasie adres.
JZ: To the nation: all is well, sleep well…….
(These are apparently the exact words of a dutch prime minister just before Nazi Germany unleashed its agression on Europe in 1939, so the story goes)
When will they ever learn…..
What is shameful, is that Dave Harris never argues the facts but is always quick to accuse white contributors of a lack of partriotism and the DA of racism, yet Dave lives in DA controlled Cape Town. He enjoys first world services while criticising the DA.
Come on Dave you hypocrite; move to an ANC run city and see what it is like for the majority of tax payers.
“the principles of forgiveness, humility, good governance, tolerance, equality and a collective effort to ease the burden of poverty and social ills” Is Magwenya talking of the future? If he is talking of the present he has a sick sense of humour. The rainbow is flaking and township flowers are stuck all over it. If the majority wishes to live in a poverty nightmare while a lying president rubs their faces in the good life, his, who am I, the minority democrat to argue? Equality? WHaahaahaa! Since when did that work in an autocracy run by kleptocrats?
Sadly, a vacuous speech writer does nothing to improve a vacuous president. And if the people are happy to stick with the mundane and moderate, we are just as vacuous!
Quite right Janice. Apologies, I couldn’t resist.
@Mike
Its interesting that you jump to the conclusion that I live in Cape Town. I wonder why? Maybe you’re simply using the process of elimination to triangulate to where I live? That’s sneaky
Maybe I do, maybe I don’t!
No Dave, I am not surmising or being sneaky. I know what I know.
What I don’t know is how you, in good conscience, can write some of the things that you write. I thought you were smarter than that. Are you perhaps trying to be Zuma’s Ronald Suresh Roberts?