For most of its 25 years, democratic SA has been the land of the politician. Politicians have promised to “deliver” all manner of things for the “masses of our own people”, as the ANC likes to put it. In line with this mantra, Nelson Mandela and the ANC of 1994 promised to “deliver” jobs and a better life for all.
Fearful white South Africans were promised “delivery” of minority-rights protections by the National Party and, later on, with its “Fight Back” campaign and others, the Democratic Party and DA.
In the EFF, a cult-like “commander-in-chief”, to whom supporters bow and scrape, promises to “deliver” stolen land.
At local level, politicians promised clean streets, better roads and better administrations. Like their national and provincial counterparts, many of these local politicians were not chosen by the people. They got their plum jobs because they were powerful in their parties.
In the early 2010s this party-dominated deployment system unravelled spectacularly. Right from the very top of the pile at the Union Buildings, the ANC had fielded mediocre leaders who were clueless about running a tap, let alone state machinery as sophisticated as SA’s.
The year 2008 onwards saw the rise of a breed of leader who knew they had a finite amount of time to loot — and they did so with dedication and energy.
Many sensible South Africans and civil society organisations heaved a massive sigh of relief when Cyril Ramaphosa and some of his supporters won a narrow victory at the ANC’s Nasrec conference in December 2017.
The good guys had won, most said, even if with a very narrow margin. Then these sensible South Africans and civil society actors did a terrible thing. They folded their arms. They went to the touchline, smirked and watched the game unfold, waiting for Ramaphosa and his team to “deliver”.
In the eyes of many, Ramaphosa’s arrival meant he had “saved” SA from mismanagement, corruption, laziness, incompetence and greed.
SA was not delivered from the clutches of the state-capture machinery by Ramaphosa. It was saved by the many voices that had realised that waiting for a politician to ‘deliver’ was a sham
What a tragic conclusion. SA was not delivered from the clutches of the state-capture machinery by Ramaphosa. It was saved by the many voices — from the media, business, trade unions, NGOs and communities — that had realised that waiting for a politician to “deliver” was a sham.
They stood up against the horrific excesses of the Zuma administration.
Who does not remember the anger of those who marched against Zuma’s corrupt cabinet choices and his cronyism as he appointed the worst possible candidates to the boards of state-owned enterprises?
A large chunk of SA’s malaise emanates from the fact that many of Ramaphosa’s supporters are waiting for him to “deliver”.
He will not do so unless the same ordinary people who demanded Zuma’s ousting now demand that he fulfil his promises. He needs to be pressured.
What is missing in SA today is the voice of ordinary citizens complaining loudly and incessantly about the lethargic pace of change while unemployment, inequality and poverty deepen.
If there is anything we should wish for in this new year it is that ordinary citizens once again remind politicians at all levels who is really in charge.
When Gwede Mantashe tells a nation of more than 50-million people that he is still thinking about rolling out sustainable-energy solutions for them (while they sit in the dark, fearful for their lives due to Stage 6 load-shedding) then citizens should be taking to the streets.
It is a complete mystery to me why South Africans are going about their daily business after the December load-shedding episodes as though it will not happen again. Nothing in the available evidence says it won’t.
It is a complete mystery to me why South Africans are going about their daily business after the December load-shedding episodes as though it will not happen again
Ramaphosa is not feeling the pressure to be bold. When he does want to implement something new and innovative his opponents in the national executive committee of the ANC tell him not to. That’s all the pressure he listens to because it is real and meaningful.
Where is the pressure from ordinary South Africans and civil society for him to do the right thing? Instead of pressure, “the people” are waiting for salvation. It won’t come.
SA’s task in 2020 is to revive the people-centred, people-driven spirit of the 1980s. We should all ask ourselves: who got antiretrovirals rolled out in the 2000s? Who got Zuma out? It was the people.
This should be the year that the people once again remind their leaders that they have to do the right thing. An active citizenry is needed just as much when “good” leaders are in place as when bad ones are. Only an active citizenry will get Ramaphosa to stop fiddling and start implementing his reform programme.
• Malala’s new book about SA’s transition to democracy will be published in 2020 by Simon & Schuster in the US and UK and by Jonathan Ball Publishers in SA
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