Cry the beloved country

Adieu, South Africa – a nation betrayed

The profound statement by ANC stalwart Naledi Pandor on the ANC of today is a clear reflection of the impending demise of a once-great institution.

South Africa has been a de facto one-party state since democracy was inaugurated more than 25 years ago, resulting in the cancerous spread of endemic corruption that has engulfed and overwhelmed the country in a deadly trajectory that cannot be contained, sustained, or halted.

It was French economist and author Frédéric Bastiat who once said: “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorises it and a moral code that glorifies it.”

Sadly, during 27 years in power, the elite and those in the corridors of power – and their progeny – have used their political positions to embezzle economic and financial resources, a process that has pauperised their own citizens in an act of shameless betrayal.

We, the law-abiding but impoverished masses, have had to witness one of the most sleaze-ridden periods in our country’s history. Citizens’ outrage has spawned a clutch of new leaders committed to ending the nexus between politics and brazen theft from state coffers. But probity has never been the strongest suit of our hard-won democracy. A staggering majority of our lawmakers are corrupt to the core.

The most serious issue our nation faces today is the ubiquity of corruption and cronyism, which is debilitating our unequal society and unleashing a state of lawlessness. Allegations and charges of corruption now play a more central role in our malignant politics than at any other time. Cabinet ministers have fallen, careers of public figures have been ruined, and respected organisations and firms badly tarnished. Our politics has become a stage for failure, with leaders so blinded by ego and the will to win that they compromise all the noble principles they claim to uphold.

Worst of all are those powerful politicians and business leaders whose blind allegiance to one another promotes collusion with embezzlers, invading the rights of the privileged, the poor, and the grieving alike. These new levels of corruption reflect the moral decay that has engulfed our battered country. Position and proximity to power have become the keys to wealth and influence.

The ruling party created this Frankenstein monster, and we fed it oxygen by remaining silent and complacent. A powerful sense of betrayal now drives our political culture.

Our elected leaders are meant to be trustees of the nation’s conscience, yet in our hour of crisis they betrayed the nation, the Constitution, and its citizens.

We are the heirs of a hard-fought struggle that gave birth to democracy 25 years ago, but today our democracy lies in shambles, undone by political deceit, shameless thuggery, and contempt for the rule of law. That rule of law is like a three-legged stool: one leg is an honest judge, the second an ethical bar, the third an enforceable oath. All three are indispensable to prevent collapse. Tragically, all three have been broken in a calculated move designed to disassemble our democracy.

It is too late to rectify the mess we are in.

Cry, the beloved country!

Adieu, South Africa! | FAROUK ARAIE Gauteng

Contradictions of B-BBEE’s moorings

Since its inception, B-BBEE has been a Trojan horse intended incrementally to attain total black control of the economy.

But having stalled at enriching only 15% of the black population and with impatience increasing, it would appear that the ANC’s 1985 Lusaka conference goal of nationalization is now being considered (Business Report, August 25).

What is missing from Nomvula Mabuza’s promotion of nationalization of the economy is awareness of the history of its failure in Africa, Cuba, Argentina and Venezuela. If Mabuza scratched the surface of the consequences of nationalization, she would note it delivers impoverishment and social dystopia – not the justice and dignity to which she aspires.

Her carping about the inability of B-BBEE to generate grassroots benefit is unworthy of sympathy because elitism is the guaranteed progeny of the Byzantine structure of B-BBEE. It institutionalizes an “I’m alright, Jack” attitude among those that have been able to clamber aboard the B-BBEE train.

The most jaundiced aspect of Mabuza’s vision is that it is moored in the thinking and circumstances of 1985. It ignores the fact that the majority of the current black population was born since 1980. Thus, exposure to apartheid was limited to the early teens for the oldest of the 1980 vintage.

Why should they be owed a different dispensation from those born during that same period and since 1994 who are not classified as black? Based on that and the inexorable passage of time, B-BBEE totally contradicts the sentiments expressed in the preamble of the constitution regarding the embrace of diversity in the quest to build a united country.

If the likes of Mabuza can set aside their Lusaka 1985 mindset, they might appreciate that B-BBEE’s demand of 30% stake in a business purely to address a receding racial legacy has no precedent in the world of entrepreneurial endeavour.

In short, it is legalized extortion.

The promotion of B-BBEE ironically also contradicts the anti-apartheid narrative because it weaponises race in its bid to abolish racism. Its consequences are already acute because by negating skills on the basis of race, it is promoting their emigration while denying those with potential the opportunity to develop skills. The net result is that we are all poorer, a reality evidenced by the parlous state of our infrastructure and governance, which begs the question: what is more important: the diverse robustness of the economy or its blackness?

Successful economies are built on merit – not on race or equity. They also are the product of an enabling environment – not one that imposes a discredited ideology and which targets minorities with sanctions. | DR DUNCAN DU BOIS Bluff

Payment delays for education assistants must be addressed

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply concerned by ongoing payment delays facing Education Assistants (EAs) in KwaZulu-Natal.

These young people play an indispensable role in supporting both learners and teachers in our schools, yet they are being left in the lurch.

According to the Department of Education (DoE), those whose stipends are paid directly by the provincial department have been paid on time. However, the majority of EAs whose contracts fall under the Presidential Employment Programme and are paid nationally through SETAs are experiencing delays. This has been confirmed in reports to the provincial legislature.

It is unacceptable that young workers, who rely on these stipends for their livelihoods, are subjected to uncertainty and financial distress due to administrative blockages. KZN’s DoE must now urgently communicate clear timelines on when these delays will be resolved. Transparency and consistency are essential to ensure that these vital staff members can continue supporting our schools without the added burden of financial insecurity.

As a partner within KZN’s Government of Provincial Unity (GPU), the DA will continue to apply pressure until a lasting solution is found.

Our learners and teachers cannot afford to lose the support of education assistants. |  SAKHILE MNGADI, MPL DA KZN spokesperson on Education

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