How churlish to berate state entities for spending a piffling R110 million on Soccer World Cup tickets. Especially given that South Africa has already spent in excess of R40 billion to underwrite the event.
After all, this kind of schmoozing is an established marketing practice: stroking the egos of important clients in private hospitality suites at major sporting events. It supposedly builds relationships and cements deals in a convivial atmosphere.
There is actually a world of difference. On the one hand, one has corporates spending revenue earned from sales to generate future profits. On the other, one has government departments spending taxes harvested from wealth-creators to create fiscal shortfalls that they will recover from, umm, wealth-creators.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan had months ago warned ministries, municipalities and parastatals against such “wasteful, fruitless and irregular” expenditure. Yet, extraordinarily, many officials took not a blind bit of notice but instead happily dipped into the taxpayer’s pocket to acquire tickets for themselves, their families and their cronies.
Though the amounts are trifling in comparison to the hundreds of millions in state funds embezzled every year, the incident has important implications. These officials are unabashed about defying government regulations and ministerial edicts because they know that as deployed African National Congress cadres, they are shielded from any serious repercussions. This is the pot-holed track to unrestrained kleptocracy and crippling to democratic governance.
Interestingly, the ANC Youth League, which has threatened to make opposition-run Cape Town “ungovernable” over the Khayelitsha “open toilets” dispute, is studiously silent over officials wasting the funds of ANC-run municipalities and paying up to R14 800 a soccer ticket, while council offices countrywide are regularly being torched over service-delivery failures.
It is difficult to feel that sorry for the Democratic Alliance over the toilet wars — in which it has been smeared as indifferent to black dignity — because it walked doe-eyed into an entirely predictable political ambush. But as with the soccer ticket frippery, the almost laughable fracas over what material lavatories should be clad in is a reminder of corrosively anti-democratic elements within the ANC.
Helen Zille, the DA leader and Western Cape premier, argues in her online column that the “open society” envisaged in the Constitution exists only for a minority of South Africans. Millions “fear speaking their minds, taking their own decisions” if these contradict the position of the collective — “ironically a small clique of self-appointed … gatekeepers … who use intimidation and violence to impose their views”.
Zille draws an analogy with Africa specialist Robert Guest’s description of “thugocrats” in Somalia, where nothing happens without the permission of the local warlord. There is unfortunately another SA just beyond the confident nation of the World Cup, she writes.
“It is a South Africa in the grip of feudal authoritarianism” where thugocrats intimidate those who differ from them and dispense patronage to those who acquiesce. “This is the foundation of the closed, crony society that results in endemic corruption and eventually, a criminal state,” writes Zille.
That Zille is clearly smarting over the lavatorial thumping her party has taken should not detract from the accuracy of her observations. The intimidatory tactics that ANCYL used against the DA in Khayelitsha are not that different from the intimidation of those YL members who dare challenge the views of the Julius Malema leadership.
Nor is that, in turn, many steps removed from thugocrats who declare “their” communities to be no-go areas to the supporters of other political parties. Nor is that, in turn, far removed from first extorting money from shopkeepers who are refugees from elsewhere in Africa, then later torching them.
The sadly funny part about the tickets, was that it simply gave the workers the incentive they needed to strike for higher wages. In both cases, the taxpayer paid. Case of: “The Buck Starts Here”.
Can’t wait for the inevitable DH comment. The DA really did stuff up in Khayelitsha. After the first signs of the residents going back on the deal, all the toilets should have been removed and the ratepayers’ (who are in many cases also the taxpayers) needs seen to. Dispensing charity is fine but not when it is criticised by the same people who seemingly did not mind doing it in the bushes under ANC governance. Amazing that the ANC always force the other parties to do those things which they themselves wouldn’t dream of wasting money on.
Agree.
Until people in this country realise that governments cannot create wealth – merely redistribute – the politicians will keep getting away with this type of stuff.
People in this country seem to forget that “government money” is only really “our/your money” collected through taxes.
Zille’s latest reply:
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=113723
The open society rhetoric is interesting. You wonder how much traction such liberal rhetoric have in a country were the majority depend on the state?
In SA most people are traditionally “statist” and attracted to big government rhetoric. Nats nationalism and liberation struggle rhetoric (the state becomes the vehicle for social, political and economical change) has a nasty legacy.
However, you could argue these days the “open society” rhetoric is more appealing given service delivery failure, government corruption & graft, wasteful expenditure etc.
Middle class people of all stripes are increasingly relying on the private sector for almost everything (how long before it is water & electricity).
There are service delivery protest and rate payer boycotts on a regular basis.
This poses a direct threat to the ANC’s National Democratic Revolution rhetoric. The NDR envisages the party as the vanguard of the liberation of black Africans and the state as the main vehicle through which society will be transformed in line with the ANC’s vision for our future.
This is not merely a political program, but a political struggle with clear enemies.
This is directly opposed to something like a “open society” which suggest pluralism and competing interests.
Again, as a DA propaganda machine, the misinformation you spread about “state entities” spending a $110 million on tickets is ludicrous.
You speak of “embezzlement”, “unrestrained kleptocracy”, “thugocrats”, “criminal state” as if our government is the same as that apartheid regime that you directly benefited from..LOL
Now you cast the DA as the victim in the “toilet wars” – unbelievable! What about the real victims who have been robbed of their human dignity. Can you imagine if your family had to defaecate in open air toilets? I don’t suppose you think that could ever be possible eh?
Its amazing how SAns pressed the fast forward button from “not buying” world cup tickets, to being the “slowest” in pruchasing them, “lack of internet access” and lastly to pictures of “happy” multitudes “filling” the stadia.
Due to high unemployment rate, I can identify myself with the first version. Now we hear that R110m was spent on the same tickets that we could not afford in the first place.
I smelt the horse dung when the only person I know to have been to one match told me that it was per invitiation by a parastatal, at no cost to himself.
I also know of no other ordinary soccer lover who has been to any of the matches. The ordinary Sowetan who drowns his sorrows by attending soccer matches at the Orlando stadium every week can simply not afford the world cup ticket.
It was self-serving for Pravin Gordhan to issue nice-sounding warnings. He is one of the few who know the secrets of taxation and control its operation. They are suspected of making up the rules as they go along, with the result that they always win, and the taxpayer alwasy loses.
Political appointees know that he is in the same boat as they are, hence they can’t take him seriously
Just how many people attended soccer matches on the taxpayers already bent back?
@ HDG
Insightful point re the statist nature of SA society and its implications for the NDR with its ‘ political struggle with clear enemies’. I guess it is how those competing themes play out within the ANC that will primarily determine the shape of SA in the years to come.
What’s the matter, “Dave Harris?” You sound quite petulant today. Are you jealous because your penchant for using emotive, unsubstantiated, and highky charged rhetoric is being usurped by the author?
Although you make a excellent comeback in your second paragraph!
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Did you read what WS-M wrote at all, Dave Harris?
“Can you imagine if your family had to defaecate in open air toilets?”
No-one had to cr*p in the open “Dave”, there was still the ANC’s obligatory 1 toilet for every 5 families available to them. Zille has also pointed out that as 96% had their own enclosed toilets those communal toilets would have been practically unused by others in the community.