Living like dogs in chaotic times

“May you live in interesting times”, this is a referral to a supposedly Chinese curse said in 1966 by Robert F Kennedy right here in Cape Town. The validity on the origin of the quote has been questioned since then. It has also been argued that this particular saying was taken from an actual Chinese proverb which says that “it is better to be a dog in peaceful times than to be a man in a chaotic period”.

I recently saw a news report showing people in the North West Province fetching water from the same place pigs and other cattle drink from. This is our democracy, one ‘for the people by the people’, or so they keep saying. There are differing positions held on the current state of our country, over issues such as these and others making headlines.

From the xenophobic attacks after ‘Philip’ left, to the proposed media appeals tribunal and the protection of information; the tenderpreneurial son of the president as well as the public sector strike. I may as well add my three cents worth of opinion to the pot, it is after all my democratic right, it says so in the constitution.

The only difference between me and the couch politician, activist or philosopher may perhaps be that I make my point at the beginning (like I will do shortly) and then go on to ramble. This way if I lose you before you reach the end of the page, then at least I’ll be sure you got my point. This is a tactic that works very well I’ve learnt, for politicians especially our government.

During election campaigns they make all sorts of promises to get our attention and essentially our vote. Heck, if they thought promising unicorns and rivers that glisten of 24carat platinum will get those votes, then that’s what they’ll promise. Never mind that unicorns don’t exist or that in the kind of world we live in, one would be lucky to find a river that isn’t a polluted health hazard. Never mind also that when making these promises most planning doesn’t go further than a white paper that has been drafted to fix those issues raised.

No, our leaders know how to grab our attention and what to do once they’ve got it and that is to announce their solutions and statements of intent and then ramble for the rest of their term in office.

So here is my point, the most amazing thing about our country, the thing that makes us stand out amongst other countries is the way in which our history has given us room to adapt as we go. We have room therefore to make the boldest and most radical decisions to improve the livelihoods of all our people, to implement policy never tried before, formulated to the specific needs of our people. But alas no such thing is going on. Instead we adopt foreign based policies, some of which failed in their country of origin, and sometimes even misinterpret these, to try and fix our problems. Problems very different in most cases to those faced by the country from which the policy comes.

Our history also shows that we are a patient people, that we can practice passive resistance and even the non violent form (by some); but, up to a point. And once the patience runs out, there is no telling, the measures people will take to get what they have so patiently been waiting for government to give as promised when elected.

And thus begins my ramble. The democratically elected leaders came in ‘guns-blazing’ promising an equal cut of the sought-after cake for all, particularly for the previously marginalised. They embarked on wholesale changes in all areas of governance hoping that these will easily translate and be transferred to the people on the ground. But as much progress as has been made, the oversight in many issues and the speed (understandably so considering the need to reverse the past) with which some of these changes were brought about is to me the simplest most reasonable explanation of our current state of affairs.

I wonder whether before the start of each year, whether our leaders actually sit down to reflect on the past year and forge a way forward. When xenophobia stirred its ugly head again after the end of the World Cup, one of the first reactions from those in power was to try talk things down by blaming opportunistic hooligans who preyed on people’s fears at the time, to do their dirty work. But, (in the only instant so far in which government seems to have learnt from the past), some leaders quickly spoke out against these attacks making the call to finding a swift solution to the problem.

Security was beefed up and volatile areas received better attention than they had the last time this happened. Civil society and other organisations also loaned their voices to the fight against xenophobia. Within weeks there seemed to be a clear direction as to how the situation and transgressors would be handled. Unified by the call from leaders, religious and civic organisations, the masses stood together and spoke in a voice not heard previously against the issue.

Not long after this, we read reports on the ‘callous’ spending of tax payers’ money by ministers. From stays at pricey hotels to hefty bar tabs. Ministers live the high life while the masses live like dogs and chaos brews.

Then the media appeals tribunal started the rounds, largely called for (I believe) as a result of issues mentioned above. Reasons by government for the need of the tribunal include slander and reputation damage caused by false reports which make the headlines and then to have the retraction (once the story is proven to be fallacious) printed in the smallest print available and placed in the most obscure part of the paper.

My favourite explanation of all is that this is a measure to protect those who cannot afford to defend themselves, or something to that tune uttered by one *Mr M. Let’s see, current president Zuma, Bulelani Ncuka, the convicted former commissioner Jackie Selebi, Glen Agglioti and various other MEC’s and ministers are a few of the people this tribunal is meant to protect. I don’t know about you but I was under the impression that these were amongst some of the wealthier and resourceful members of our nation. I therefore cannot make the connection between how they are vulnerable to misrepresentation in the media or better still, how they cannot afford to protect themselves should they be falsely accused.

As many mistakes and false reports as there are written, many more true stories and corrupt practices have been exposed. And to want to stop or affect the medium within which our democratically elected leaders are kept in check, is to spit in the face of the electorate who put the very leaders in power.

I have not heard or seen the hungry, the poor or the underpaid being interviewed before or during elections, asking government for better check systems on media or for a bill on the protection of information. Instead what we often hear are people asking for houses, employment, better pay and better schooling for their children, for food, medicine and security.
For years this, their pleas for service delivery, has been like a song playing on loop but never heard. Instead our leaders announce one day, that there should be a media appeals tribunal and a protection of information bill passed to protect the people of South Africa. I guess we’ll sing again in the next election, maybe they’ll hear us this time around.

Now the public sector strike is in its second week heading towards a third and like the rest of the country, I too am appalled by reports of patients being turned away and prevented from getting to hospitals by strikers and learners missing out on valuable lessons needed to prepare for exams. However, spare a thought for the teacher, nurse and other civil servants with children of their own to feed, houses to build and homes to make, dreams to fulfil and hopes of a better life; tied down by limited opportunities, overworked, underpaid and demoralised by the lack of recognition for the invaluable work they do.

Before the World Cup there was a taxi and later rail strike, and during the World Cup there were threats of planned strike action. Ministers, leaders from various organisations as well as ‘ordinary’ members of society spoke out against such threats. Highlighting how unpatriotic and selfish it was of those making such threats to do so when the entire world was watching us.
But can we blame them, should we have blamed them? The world cup provided an opportunity to finally be heard. And it was, government moved quickly to avert the strike and maintain peace throughout the tournament, everyone played nice.

I have also never heard of any South African minister complaining over being underpaid yet doing the most amount of work. Instead ministers make millions per annum, enjoying benefits that include cars that also cost millions as well as housing allowances substantially higher than those of the unruly civil servant who doesn’t appreciate the fact that they at least have a job to go to.

These are ministers who splurged on World Cup tickets, ‘networking’ they said. ‘Wining and dining business people’ said one minister ‘is among the ways in which business agreements are started and foreign investors are encouraged to pour money into the economy’. Now, among the reasons for the call to workers to return to work are constant reports of investor confidence being affected by the strike. What? After the millions spent building relations in VIP suits at Soccer City those bastards are ready to flee because of this little thing? So much for networking!

Ministers were also among the first to ‘lash’ out at the workers for their strike action, calling for them to accept the offer by government as it would cripple the country if the state was made to pay more. So what they are saying is, money was and can always be made available for ‘networking’ splurges such as there were during the World Cup but now workers must east dust because well there’s just not enough money to go around, what with all the BMW’s bought and FIFA tickets they absolutely had to have.

But like I said earlier, what makes ours such a great country is that our history that has allowed room for learning and adapting as we go. What should be learnt is that standards used by other nations to ‘network’ as they say should never have been applied to or adopted by us. There is no use splurging on caviar and the freshest Norwegian salmon to entertain guests for dinner whilst you are left to struggle to put the next day’s meal on the table and have your lights cut off because the salmon cost too much.

Unfortunately, the most our leaders do is to criticise the spending (after the fact) while they continue to loot from pockets of citizens on even more splurges. When questioned about this, some (a certain *Mr M to be specific) have lashed out saying that people find it an issue when a black leader enjoys the perks that come with his status and success, flashy life and all.

What is missing from their reasoning is reflection and learning from the past. If they did (reflect and learn) they would know that what made it possible for leaders in the old regime to live as they did was that their responsibility was towards a minority of the population, leaving them with ‘enough’ left over to do with as they please. The situation is reversed, our leaders have many more mouths to feed and this goal can never be fulfilled if they do not alter their perceived entitlements that come with the job.

They are a government ‘for the people, by the people’, so they say and so it should follow that they be part of the people and live as the people do. This is what the old regime did; they lived as their people did. However unbalanced that was in relation to the country’s demographics.

Until our leaders reflect on their promises, on the past and on what needs to be done; we will be reduced to men living like dogs in a chaotic period. It is exactly this kind of environment that breeds tension, malice and makes a country with so much potential for prosperity, yet another volatile African state rapidly heading towards anarchy.

We are a patient people, passive even, but only to a point. Our current leaders need only reflect back to be reminded of the cost of fair distribution and visible efforts to make things better versus self enrichment practices at the expense of an increasingly discontented masses.