LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

ANC’s governance failure is a root cause of xenophobia

Yacoob Abba Omar attributes South Africa’s relatively peaceful democratic transition to the distinction made by the ANC between apartheid and civilians (“Can South Africa move beyond the politics of resentment?”, July 2). At the 1995 Rugby World Cup, president Nelson Mandela wore the green and gold Springbok jersey and South Africans momentarily believed in the Rainbow Nation.

That ANC no longer exists.

By 2024, as Abba Omar observes, South Africa had become prey to the politics “of ethnic and race-based resentment”. Resentment had already, in 2008, taken on the form of xenophobia against allegedly illegal migrants.

Resentment has many causes. Abba Omar cites Achille Mbembe’s singling out the democratic state’s failure to deliver to its citizens. The ANC can no longer convince the poor and marginalised that tomorrow will be better, to paraphrase political commentator Justice Malala.

The urgency, as Abba Omar suggests, is for South Africa to be led by an “ethical and capable leadership” that’s focused on delivery, not on looting from the state. Unfortunately, for most of the past 30 years it’s been the other way round for the ANC, first looting, then delivering the meagre leftover crumbs.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has not been immune from playing the race card, as when he criticised whites for opposing National Health Insurance (NHI) because, as he said, “white people” were fearful of equality and democracy. This did not preclude him from proclaiming, Kim Jong-un style, that equality, meaning NHI, would be imposed “whether people like it or not”. Corruption and racism also inform the economy-killing BEE laws, which benefit the ANC elite but exclude whites and other minorities from employment.

The disadvantaged millions are left with Sassa crumbs. The result: resentment in the form of service delivery protests and xenophobia.

François Theron

Pretoria

South Africa’s crisis goes beyond illegal immigration

Illegal foreign nationals — and foreigners in general — have become an outlet for South Africans’ deep-seated anger over an economy that fails to create enough jobs and a government that appears detached from the daily struggles of the black majority: rampant unemployment and grinding poverty.

I no longer understand what our government leaders are actually leading. They seem to have betrayed the very people who voted them into power.

The blame must rest squarely at the doors of the Union Buildings and with a private sector that often appears hostile to black advancement.

The core problem with many private employers is that they resist black workers who know and assert their labour rights. It is far easier for them to exploit undocumented foreigners, who are often willing to accept hand-to-mouth wages and poor conditions just to survive. If the government and the private sector continue to ignore the legitimate grievances of the black majority, this situation risks spiralling into widespread unrest and destruction.

Leaders in the government and business may enjoy comfort today while the masses suffer, but persistent failure could eventually force a reckoning. Black South Africans have largely lost confidence in the ANC-led government. This crisis runs much deeper than foreigners.

Since the 2008 global financial crisis, the South African economy has not truly recovered. We keep pleading for foreign investors, yet our government has not seriously pursued a proactive, state-led development model such as China’s, where the government acts as a decisive business leader and driver of growth. Instead, our leaders often react only when public pressure boils over. This reactive style shows they are not governing the country properly.

Zolisa Cebo Soji

Via email

Court ruling will hinder, not help, housing delivery

I refer to your article “Cape Town has three months to fix what apartheid housing built” (July 3).

What an absolutely terrible decision. This will mark another slide into “activist” decisions penned by our highest court.

Cape Town alone in South Africa’s metros has attempted to address the social housing need utilising small parcels under its control. For anyone paying attention, progress is slow due to red tape, but it’s there. The really big opportunities lie in military sites such as Wingfield that are locked in bureaucratic denial.

The Tafelberg site was sold, as it was not a feasible location to get developers to invest in and it has been explained so many times. For the judges to talk about Cape Town being one of the world’s most spatially unequal cities is pure political speech writing. How would they know? How is this measured when comparing Sandton and Alexandra minus the mountain?

Decisions like this do nothing to speed anything up and simply cast shade on the one metro actually trying to do something.

Martin Neethling

Via Business Day Online

Deliver municipal services before demanding payment from residents

The article “Fix municipal revenue collection first” (June 2) refers.

Fix services first before trying to collect revenue for something not delivered. The idea of collecting revenue for services not delivered is as insane as promising everything for free for votes, which is what the ANC has done.

The author has the sequencing totally wrong and therefore proffers a totally wrong diagnosis of South Africa’s problem.

Functioning infrastructure was built using income tax. Rates are meant to cover maintenance of services, which the public then pays for to create a functioning services loop.

The ANC hammered the infrastructure into the ground, put people into service jobs who were clueless and then wondered why no-one was paying for nondelivery.

Andrea Robertson

Via Business Day Online

JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businessday.co.za. Letters of more than 200 words may be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.​