There is a pervasive and growing sense that South Africa has lost its way, that we have lost our sense of direction. I find myself trying to pinpoint where it started going wrong and I struggle with the answers. But i’ve come up with this: I think we lost our path when the struggle against the institutional crime of apartheid became the end in itself, rather than a means toward the ultimate goals of justice and freedom and human dignity.
We allowed the victory over apartheid, the longest continuous crime against humanity of the century, to eclipse this ultimate prize. It was too tempting and too easy to settle for the prize of apartheid, though a fantastic prize in itself, and halt the march toward social justice. The RDP was quietly shuffled out the back door and big business welcomed in the front. Since then, that elite pact has been cemented in place by the installation of revolving doors between public and private sectors (though most of the traffic is one way) as well as canoodling between public figures and organized crime, as the sordid tale of the Police Commissioner and the proximity of the Kebble network to political power, both ANC and DA, demonstrate too well (not to mention the arms deal, the ultimate betrayal of the Freedom Charter!).
The thesis of an elite transition has never looked as compelling as it did on the streets of Ramaphosa settlement a few weeks ago and on television screens around the world, where we witnessed the anger, resentment, and vengeful determination of those not just left outside the elite pact, but left behind by the elite transition. The much celebrate boom years, the accolades heaped on the Minister of Finance, bountiful government coffers, soaring property prices, roaring retail trade and so on were paraded to divert pressing questions about the deepening despair and desperation of the impoverished, malnourished and homeless. And while the left now bleats about how they told us so, they are as much complicit with the fundamental ailment, which is the profound lack of political leadership South Africa has suffered for a decade.
Thabo Mbeki, poor man, is synonymous with all that is spineless and deficient in political leadership of late (note how he left for Tanzania on the same day he granted the SAPS’s request for assistance from the SANDF, a clear acknowedgement of the extent of the crisis). But we should not let him be scapegoated, even as we frogmarch him from the Union Buildings. We need to ask where has our leadership gone? It seems everyone possessed of credibility, justice and compassion either left for the private sector (and who knows what happened to their virtues there) or threw them away, which seems to be the case with most who stayed. Those a little down the ladder either clambered higher to suck on the increasingly noxious vapors as the air turned foul around them, or bailed out to civil society where their commitments could make a difference and where they could do greater good (though their realm of influence was smaller and their influence all the more efficient for it). A few good people remained, convinced integrity could still prevail. But they too have seemingly succumbed.
It’s not as bad as 15 years ago when we had no good people in government and the longest continuous crime against humanity was still going about its murderous business. But then we were still gaining ground and we had reserves stored in our hope and exhilaration. Now it seems we’re loosing ground and our reserves are dangerously depleted.
We need to be open about the fact that our nation is facing a crisis (of which xenophobia is the most recent manifestation). I’m not convinced the situation is irretrievable – nothing ever is. I still hope that some of our current leaders can step out of the shadows of their former selves. But those who cannot or will not must be shown the door. As a nation, we are not short of people possessed of leadership qualities. They must come forward and must be supported.
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