We fought for freedom and all we got was democracy. The reality is that this democracy is working for the elites, not the poor.
The statistics show that we have about 62 million people on South African soil, of which 45 million are eligible to vote, with close to 27 million people on the voters’ roll.
In the 2019 election only 19 million South Africans voted (42%), and in our election held during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, only 12 million voted (27%).
The reality is that South Africa has more than 100 registered parties for voters to choose their preferred one from, and more parties joining the ballot paper. The latest is the Activist and Citizens Forum, which is calling for Dr Allan Boesak to lead.
This prompts me to conclude that people either form political parties because they see politics as entry into the middle class (given our high unemployment rate), or they are genuinely disillusioned with the status quo and feel this to be the only way to express their dissatisfaction.
We now know what good leadership looks like – it is not what people say, it is what they do.
So, what does a desired future look like? The reality is that the bar for political leadership is so low. Ours is a system of representative and participatory democracy. There is a total disconnect between the politicians and the people – social distance.
The goodwill of the people is simply not matched by administrative and political will. That government is not prepared to meet people halfway. Instead the system is designed to make you dependent on grants in a disempowerment model.
The National Development Plan (NDP) review concludes that instead of a capable state, we have an increasingly corrupt state. This corruption did not start in 1994. It is so deeply entrenched in our DNA – both the private and public sectors.
This country was built on this political economic collusion resulting in centuries of economic and political injustice.
The NDP concludes that leadership and active citizenry will get us out of this deep hole.
Today there is no greater failure than the failure of our economic policies.
Evidence is the World Bank that declared South Africa the most unequal country in the world as a direct consequence of our economic policy choices over a period of 30 years.
We are faced with deep-rooted structural inequality, persistent generational poverty and rising youth unemployment. These problems will persist due to deteriorating state capacity and inappropriate policy management.
South Africans must decide. Are we active or passive citizens in the broad sense of business, academia, and civil society formations?
Active citizens are involved, helping to shape society as expressed in a grassroots governance course spearheaded by colleague Dr Ina Gouws at the University of the Free State (UFS).
- This requires hard work and deep commitment to build institutions. This is not elitist. In this, new knowledge and models are developed that serve to liberate people. Active citizenship irritates and keeps producing evidence demanding excellence and the redistribution of wealth.
