The Return of Apartheid.
This is the scenario most proposed by the
current ANC hegemony in regard to a possible DA victory over them in the polls.
The most disturbing aspect of this opinion is that so many South Africans
actually believe this drivel. This is pure propaganda and scare tactics by a
corrupt regime, willing to do anything including murdering striking miners to
stay in power. They react to a possible DA majority in the future by utilizing
the same old racist segregation tactics they have used for the last 18 years,
simply because they’ve worked so well on a widely unsophisticated electorate
before. Even well-educated professional people have expressed this same opinion
to me. To all of the DA apartheid doomsayers, trendy white apologists, black
racist haters and even the remaining Woolworths shoppers, there are some vital
points that need to be taken into account in a functional democracy, which
should the DA win the next election, South Africans will in all probability
experience for the first time in 18 years.
Apartheid was an abomination inflicted by on a
majority by a militant minority intent on remaining in power. Its demise was
brought about by a majority no longer willing to be racially discriminated
against.
Apartheid today is an abomination inflicted on
a majority by a corrupt ruling elite intent in remaining in power for as long
as possible, with a purpose to strip all wealth from the country and divert it
to their own pockets. Its demise will be
brought about by a discontented electorate tired of watching the favored elite
get fabulously rich and flaunt their wealth in the face of the 40% functionally
unemployed people in South Africa, who by now have realized that all their vote
did was to ratify the decision of the approximately 2800 corrupt delegates at
Polokwane who voted for the current president. The people have for their vote
received very little in return, living conditions are at an all-time low, the
widely documented deterioration in basic services does not have to be
enumerated here, it’s a an accepted fact.
So, what exactly in my opinion would a DA (or
any other political party that is prepared to serve the people) mean to the
majority of the people of South Africa? Dealing first of all with the return of
apartheid; is there logic is assuming that the electorate which is some 80%
black, would render a majority to a party, which by demographics is likewise
racially structured, so that a return to the previous apartheid regime can be
effected? I don’t think so either,
because no electorate would stand for that, and there would be an immediate
bloody uprising against such a fallacious policy. So clearly the scaremongering
and outright lies are easily exposed by applying a little common sense.
What will it
mean for South Africa?
The brand South Africa is depending on whom you
believe, or not, at an all-time low. Never before as a people have South
Africans been embarrassed and humiliated by the leadership of the country as
they are at the moment. Without rehashing recent political events, and the
ongoing as well as publically visible battle for succession within the ANC,
mass corruption within government and the blatant looting of the public coffers
by what has clearly become an out control administration. This fact or scenario
is clearly visible to the rest of the world. No amount of devious calculated
spin doctoring by an increasingly desperate regime can hide the facts from the
rest of the world anymore.
Under a democratically elected government, that
does not embrace corruption and wanton self-enrichment as some sort of State
Religion, the people of South Africa no doubt could expect a radical
improvement to the value of the brand South Africa. With that would doubtlessly
come renewed foreign interest, selfish as it may be perhaps, but bringing with
it also new investment, to replace the investment lost by the current ANC
government’s policy of crony capitalism, tender corruption and racist business
models. Which have seen Foreign Direct Investment dry to a trickle comprised
only of rigged tenders and corrupt principals willing to pay the massive bribes
needed to do business in the current environment. Quite frankly I believe we
have enough jets, submarines, corvettes and failed toll road systems. I also
believe we need projects that stimulate basic employment of the largely
uneducated, unskilled workforce.
Economic
Benefits
Estimations vary on the amount of GDP lost to
mostly government corruption, from 25% of GDP up to 30% of GDP depending which
reports you believe. The bleed in government spending could be effectively used
to provide many things such a free schooling for all at world class level. Free
healthcare for all at world class level, are these exaggerations? I don’t know,
because the numbers are staggeringly large, I’m proposing an alternate use for
the funds which are looted now by the current administration. I have no way of
knowing if with cessation of looting, could come a national free rail network.
I can only hypothesise on the possibilities. What I can state with certainty is
that none of the hypothetical improvements can occur under the current corrupt
regime. Their addiction to looting and squandering funds appears to be for
moment incurable. It must also be pointed out that if the improvements
mentioned possible were to come about, unemployment would without doubt be
radically reduced in the short to medium term.
Capital projects require extensive labour,
which in return provides employment. More importantly it increases the economic
cycle and injects money into the first tier economy immediately. The ripple
effect is felt throughout the economy both local and neighboring. A radical
improvement in the general as opposed to specific population could be
reasonably expected to follow as a result of that.
What will it
mean for the current regime?
Not very good news I’m afraid, the current
regime has built a reputation of a rampant kleptocracy, some have labeled it an
ineptocracy, semantics aside, a legitimately run government would not be good
news for the current regime. Ironically, in building additional correctional
facilities to house those found guilty of corruption and criminal conduct could
provide an additional temporary burst of employment in the civil engineering
industry. The government tax revenue
generated by these operations could well be put to good use elsewhere at a
later stage. That aside, a properly functioning society has to, of necessity
deal with all criminal elements in a fair and just manner, if in the course of
doing that, the previous victims of the criminal elements are afforded the
opportunity to enter into gainful employment, all the better. A successful
country, like a successful business, should have accountability as one of its cornerstones;
the current regime should accept that its past behavior will, at some point be
assessed and if found lacking, appropriate steps be taken against offenders
using evidentiary principles in law.
What can the
Majority Expect from their Party?
It’s a very open ended question, isn’t it? The
temptation to insert rainbows and unicorn symbols does seem strong. Reality or
realistic hypothesis for the purposes of this has to prevail, we have as people
paid for and watched the current regime concoct their own rainbows and
unicorns, and have not seen the benefit to the majority of the people.
In economic terms an economy that is not
bleeding money through corruption, can heal itself rather quickly. That raises
several interesting possibilities, the least of which is a leveling out of the
secondary and invisible taxes the current regime is so adept at inflicting on
the taxpayer base. The next important aspect of a rapidly healing economy and a
tax body that is not a slave to the corrupt foibles of a morally bereft
government, would be increased efficiency not only in the collection, but in
the utilization of public funds, which would no doubt lead to a medium term
reduction in taxes which would further stimulate the economy. Clearly the wages of corruption are
stagnation and higher taxes. A realistic positive jump in the living standards
of all South Africans could be expected, further confirming the correct choice
of government in the minds of the voters, instead of the current race-scare
economic disaster model employed, increasingly less effective by the
kleptocracy.
What will the
people get out of it?
Again a difficult point, but besides the obviously
advantageous economic rewards, the benefits to be had on a societal level are
considerable. The long term damage done to national psyche by sustained abusive
administrations is best left to sociologists and the like to quantify if that
is at all possible. But a start can be made on telling people that their colour
or race is just that, nothing else, and that it in no way influences their
standing in the community, or their chances of success in society, be the
catalyst that starts and sustains real Ubuntu, instead of the current racist
view of that held by the ANC government, who failed miserably to learn from the
past and have spent the last 18 years repeating it.
Setting South Africans free may be far easier
than sawing through some chains, or prison bars, it may well be as simple as
telling them that they are all worthy of the same rights and freedoms as people
and that they don’t have to be a particular colour to get them, or support a
specific kleptocrat to ensure their uninterrupted enjoyment. The temptation at this point to insert a
relevant quote from people I admire the most is strong. But I will not quote
Steve Biko or Martin Luther King Jnr or Abraham Lincoln for that matter. I will
instead say this to every South African: Your potential as people and as nation
is far greater than anyone wants to allow you to believe.
If you believe that you are prisoner, or will
become a prisoner because someone with devious motivation for telling you, told
you these things, then you will remain a prisoner of your own irrational
fears.