Such is the extent of the decay today, it feels as if there is almost no point in making an argument anymore. Do arguments matter? Do facts matter? 2019 will be the measure of such things. Until then, without explanation, here are a few words and phrases that speak to just some of the problems that have brought us to where we are today, as you make up your mind.
Each one says more than any columnist ever could. They would, at the very least, seem to be the best way to capture the national mood, which is now so despairing it almost defies description.
2. Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi fired for corruption.
3. Schabir Shaik.
4. Nkandla.
5. 2007’s rolling blackouts.
6. The commission of inquiry into the collapse of the rand.
8. State capture.
9. The tragedy created by moving psychiatric patients from Life Esidimeni care.
10. Marikana.
11. The firing of finance minister Nhlanhla Nene.
12. Million-rand bailouts for the SABC.
13. Billion-rand bailouts for SAA.
14. Trillion-rand bailouts for Eskom.
15. Maths and science pass rates.
16. Junk status.
17. A ballooning public-service wage bill.
18. Oilgate.
19. Chancellor House.
20. Silent diplomacy.
21. HIV not causing Aids.
22. Cadre deployment.
24. Expropriation without compensation.
26. Tenders.
28. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and the Central African Republic (CAR).
29. R20bn on VIP protection in 10 years.
30. The state versus Jacob Zuma, and others.
32. Omar al-Bashir.
33. Menzi Simelane.
34. Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
35. The biggest budget deficit of all time.
36. Cash in transit heists.
37. Service delivery protests.
38. Public destruction of infrastructure.
39. The South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU).
40. Road infrastructure backlog.
41. Water infrastructure backlog.
42. Racial nationalism.
43. Under-funded universities.
44. The bucket system.
46. Farm murders.
48. Collapse of local government.
49. Local government audit outcomes.
50. "Radical economic transformation".
51. Attack on free speech.
52. The payment of social grants.
53. Corruption.
54. Poverty.
55. Censorship.
56. Decline of national debate.
57. Decline of parliament’s authority.
58. Politically biased speaker of parliament.
59. Drought.
60. Impartiality of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
61. Impartiality of the Hawks.
62. Shutting down of the Scorpions.
63. Destruction of Sars’ institutional framework.
64. The impartiality of the public protector.
65. The denigration of the previous public protector.
66. The skills deficit.
67. Abuse of black economic empowerment (BEE).
68. The security and independence of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).
69. Nationalising the Reserve Bank.
70. Violence against women and children.
71. Prison overcrowding.
72. Court backlogs.
73. Stolen dockets.
74. The intelligence services.
75. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).
76. The Vrede dairy farm.
77. The state of public healthcare.
78. Xenophobia.
79. Border control.
80. The Waterkloof landing.
81. Death threats.
82. Transnet.
83. Denel.
84. Lack of accountability.
85. Racism.
86. Sexism.
87. Homophobia.
88. Intolerance.
89. Riah Phiyega.
90. Bheki Cele.
91. Bathabile Dlamini.
92. Sarafina.
93. Virodene.
94. Digital migration.
95. Directors-general turnover rate.
96. Red tape hampering business start-ups.
97. Collapse of the mining sector.
98. Red tape hampering mining investment.
99. Conflation of party and state.
100. Foreign direct investment.
101. Supra Mahumapelo.
102. Ace Magashule.
103. Collapse in the value of the rand.
104. Shortage of nurses.
105. Decline in tourism.
106. Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP); Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) plan; the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for SA (Asgisa); the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP); IPAP II; the New Growth Path (NGP); the National Development Plan (NDP).
107. The Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa).
108. Dire land reform progress.
109. Mass water loss due to poor infrastructure.
110. Road deaths.
111. E-tolls.
112. State funding of Jacob Zuma’s legal costs.
113. Government compliance with court orders.
114. The response to Brett Murray’s painting The Spear.
115. Extended suspensions on full pay.
116. The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
117. Acting officials in permanent positions.
118. 2009 suggestion to scrap the provinces.
119. Low conviction rate for public corruption.
120. Number of work days lost to striking.
121. Failure to meet deadlines.
122. Gangsterism.
123. Sixty percent of children without a father figure.
124. Limpopo placed under administration.
125. Billing problems.
126. Municipality arrears owed to Eskom.
127. Political stability in the North West.
128. John Block.
129. The loan conditions from China.
130. Youth unemployment rate of 53%.
131. Student damage to university property.
132. The destruction of Nelson Mandela Bay under the ANC.
133. Ministers’ failure to attend committees or question time.
134. Tony Yengeni in charge of ethics.
135. Teachers refusing to be tested.
136. Uncosted National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme.
137. Uncosted long-term free higher education.
138. PetroSA’s R1.4bn loss in 2016-2017.
139. The number of small-and medium-size businesses having halved.
140. A state bank.
141. Load-shedding.
142. David Mabuza.
143. Failure to deliver textbooks in Limpopo.
144. Fake degrees and CVs.
145. Impartiality of the SABC.
146. Declining funding for arts and culture.
Oh, and as of yesterday:
147. A recession.
• Van Onselen is the head of politics and government at the South African Institute of Race Relations.
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