The SA Public's Silly Priorities

I'm constantly finding myself dumbstruck by the South African public. I find it fascinating (in the same way as an exploding volcano) to watch what we as a country get incensed about, what we find worthy of our attention as a group of people.

We've recently had two large upwellings of public protest about two very different issues: The whole Zuma Spear controversy and the toll roads in Jo'Burg. I've already put in my two cents about both those issues so I won't go into them again. What I interested in is that the people of South Africa obviously feel that these are the most important matters facing our country at the moment.

Seriously? Paying tolls (which happens EVERYWHERE else in the world) and a picture that is in (arguably) bad taste? That is what you think is important? Regardless of what you think of either of those issues, surely we have bigger fish to fry? Don't we have a couple blue whales sitting in the background?

Apart from nebulous concepts like crime, corruption and education there are some very serious, very specific problems that I would think take precedence over anything as trivial as what we get worked up about. For instance:

The DA recently had a match to COSATU’s head office that ended in violence when COSATU supporters clashed with the DA. We should be screaming our heads off about this! The right to protest is one of the basic freedoms that the ANC (and COSATU) fought for and it must work both ways… it’s not just the ANC and its partners that can protest.

Bheki Cele is still a member of our government. After every complaint, report and investigation, this man is still collecting a paycheck out of our pockets. The fact that he still has any form of authority is due a failure of us as a people to call for his head. You think he would still be there if we cried about that as much as we do about tolls?

The death toll on our roads is sitting at about 14000 people a year. 14000 people! We had 900 people killed in December last year. It beggars belief. Sure this is due to number of factors, but it could be significantly reduced by enforcing drinking laws and holding Taxi associations accountable for the maintenance of their vehicles.

All of these problems have solutions; they’re not nebulous policy decisions that are open to debate. All that is needed is the political will to make it happen, but that will never materialize until the South African public hold their elected officials accountable for what they do. We need to make a noise about what really matters to us… not about a stupid little painting.

-Odd

P.S. I really do love this country... I think it's the best place to be in the world, and I'll have something more positive next time :)

“Too many leaders act as if the sheep... their people… are there for the benefit of the shepherd, not that the shepherd has responsibility for the sheep.” –Ken Blanchard

Thoughts on democracy

So we've got our local government elections coming up tomorrow. Which is great because there's a possibility that together we can make a change for the better... and the fact that we get a public holiday doesn't hurt either.

I was chilling out with some friends yesterday and I made a comment about voting and one of the guys said that he isn't going to vote because he's protesting 'the system'. I had to restrain myself from strangling him on the spot...

I almost wasn't successful...

Give me a second to calm down...

...

...

...

Ok, I'm fine... Homicidal impulse controlled... nothing to see here... move along.

Sure, democracy isn't the perfect form of government... but it's the best we've got, and it only works if everyone participates. I think it was Alexis de Toqueville who said that we get the government we deserve and that really strikes a cord with me.

In a democratic system (even one like ours that is heavily weighted towards one party) the public are responsible for the people governing them and only though continuous pressure and engagement can we ever hope to improve the woeful governance we experience.

Personally, I'm hoping that the DA can take Joburg... or at least some the municipalities in Gauteng, but if they don't I'll go back next time and cast my vote again... in hope... and in the knowledge that if I don't, nothing will ever change.

And if you don't vote, you can't complain - about anything - period. If I hear you complaining and you didn't vote... I probably won't try to control my reaction.

-Odd

"A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation" -James Freeman Clarke

South African politics and the official opposition

With our municipal elections coming up soon, I'd like to talk a little bit about our political landscape, and my views on it.

I personally think that democracy is the least flawed form of government, and that our specific flavour of it in South Africa is more flawed than it has to be.

We don't live in a multi-party democracy... sure it says that on paper, but practically there is only one party: the ANC. This is due to the fact that they are still seen as the revolutionary party and so a majority of the constituency will continue to vote for them out of a sense of responsibility. "They gave us freedom, so we must continue to vote for them." This view continues despite the massive heap of broken promises piled around the ANC... In fairness, a lot of those promises were absolutely impossible to keep... but that simply means they shouldn't have been made in the first place.

Now I'm not resting all of our governmental ills entirely on the ANC: our illustrious 'official opposition', the DA, haven't exactly lived up to my expectations either. They may well be better at the administration that is required of government (Cape Town seems to be thriving), but as a political party they've left me disappointed. Their entire platform seems to be ANC bashing and that irritates me. I have very little idea of their platform, what they stand for (besides the mandatory generalistaions like more jobs, less crime and the like), or what their plan would be if they, by some miracle, got elected to national government. Sure... I could probably track down all that detail, but I don't think it's my responsibility. If they want my vote, then they should be the ones chasing after me. If they're not willing to put in the effort to get my vote, how much work will they do for me after they've got it?

Not that I see much alternative... and that's where the major problem lies. The social ills of crime, corruption, greed and graft all seem to point to a lack of leadership in this country. We have no one to point to and say, "Look! he/she/it is doing the right thing, so I will follow their example."

Despite all this moaning and complaining, I urge all of you to make sure that you're registered to vote (you can sms your ID number to 32810 to check), and turn out to vote on the day.

If you don't vote, you can't complain. Period.

-Odd

"A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user." -Theodore Roosevelt