There’s a rumour, probably malicious, that says after a particular British soccer club had been performing abysmally all season, the manager approached the team at a Monday morning training session and said, “Chaps, let’s get down to basics. This is a ball!”
A similar sentiment must be conveyed to the African National Congress (ANC) leadership of our country.
Had we all wanted wasteful expenditure on multibillion-rand soccer stadiums, hi-tech military hardware and nuclear power plants, politicians who live as though they’re high-flying international celebrities and rampant corruption in government, we would have demanded it.
In fact, I’m sure there would have been violent and sustained “industrial action” in support of these causes.
Instead, we have our population demanding the most basic (things): jobs, suitable housing, running water, flushing toilets, education and, above all, the ability to live with dignity.
Yet, the ANC and its caviar comrades persist in stealing the coffers dry, allocating grossly overpriced contracts to their cronies, employing their talentless families in positions of senior authority, and abusing the trust of the very people who voted them into government.
Yes, it’s an appalling indictment of South African politics; the politicians’ indifference to the needs of our people, and their self-righteous concern for their personal wealth and status above all else.
Mark Wade
Durban