11 Feb08

Topics:Politics Rants 

Back in 1994, when Apartheid was abolished and we (South Africans) had our first free and fair elections, there began a phenomenon known as “The Brain Drain”. This phenomenon has caused many problems going forward to present day. But as we South African’s are resilient to change, we’ve adapted and worked our way around the challenges. Wait. Let me correct that statement; most of the challenges.

For the most part, South Africa over the last 14 years has done VERY well for itself economically. There was a mild dip where our currency hit ridiculous lows against the major currencies of the world (GB Pound, Euro, USD, etc…) and interest rates soared. For the last 6 years though – things have improved dramatically, our currency gained strength and has been at a high it hasn’t seen for a long period. Tourism was up, crime stats apparently dropped, the future was looking bright and rosy. Big businesses are booming, small businesses are flourishing – it is the land of opportunity.

South Africa is a beautiful country. We have fantastic weather, there are no natural disasters (except the occasional “flooding” at some of our coastal towns – but for this, we can blame global warming), our cultural diversity is amazing, we have brilliant wildlife and parks, our people are friendly, our oceans are warm (unless you look at the west coast, but let’s not go there), we have a fantastically interesting past and we have plenty of natural resources and and and... For all intents and purposes – it’s a country worth fighting for.

Now that I’ve given the upside, let us look at the downside. Our government seems to be getting more corrupt with each passing year, and with that comes the following set of problems:

• ·         Infrastructure seems to be failing
  •  Roads not being maintained
  •  Not enough new roads being built
  •  No safe public transport
  •  Electrical supply failing (is sewerage/water next?)
• ·         Ineffective Policing & Judicial Punishment
  •  Violent Crime on the increase
  •  Violent protests
  • Corrupt officials getting let off with
• ·         Education system decreasing standards
• ·         Ineffective policies implemented
• ·         Tax money squandered
• ·         Poor standards in public service
• ·         International mistrust
• ·         Slowing of economic growth
• ·         Second round of The Brain Drain

To be fair, it is not just the high-ranking officials that are the root of the problem. You have the metro cops who appear out of no-where a month or two before the festive season starts. Where before you’d be lucky if you saw a cop once in a month, suddenly they are everywhere. The feeling this creates amongst the public (Yes I’m addressing you Government) is that they are there to try and earn Christmas Bonuses. Okay. I shouldn’t be so diplomatic. They are there to earn their Christmas bonuses from bribes paid to them by citizens who don’t want the inconvenience of standing in long lines to pay fines when the power is out. Although I must admit – it was nice to see the metro cops doing their job in late January during one of the infamous load shedding excercises (thanks Eskom). Let me tell you what they were doing. They were pulling people over who didn’t come to a complete stop at a traffic light which wasn’t working (yes – thank you Eskom for supplying much needed power to traffic lights in rush hour) and issuing tickets. THANK GOODNESS they weren’t directing traffic and saving thousands of people frustration and adding to the economic growth of the country by ensuring that the citizens were productive. I love that my tax money pays these people’s salaries.

The police don’t do too bad a job. I mean they arrive about 3 hours late when you phone them for a burglary that’s taken place. I feel really frightened relying on them in case of emergency or even to prevent a situation through regular patrolling secure. They even start great initiatives like this one, although I have yet to see any result of this happening.

Of course – then there’s getting your  Identity Document, your driver’s license renewed, passport issued, …etc. Dealing with these departments is fun. At least they’ve provided chairs for the queues. If you lucky enough to get there early, you may get to use those chairs. I would have no problem queuing if I didn’t have to face a miserable person who is grossly incompetent for their job who can barely speak the business language of South Africa (English - although I think Xhosa would be fun, that way we couldn’t communicate with the rest of the world)  (okay – this one I’m exaggerating a little – they can usually communicate in English) then proceed to wait 10 weeks with no- way to find out what’s happening. This might be standard practice for all government departments, since I have travelled a little and I’ve unfortunately had to deal with government departments from other countries. Although with them it always seemed like a superior “we have power over you, you will wait on us” type of thing.

As the old saying goes, “The fish rots from the head.” (I wonder if my old CEO Gavin Coutts ever realised the irony of this statement when he made it prior to the demise of Astrolabe Group.) Our lovely ruling party is currently divided into two factions. Pro Zuma and Pro Mbeki. Personally, if I were a member of the ANC, I’d rather go suppor Mbeki. My simple reasoning is that he’s been on a rape trial… sure this is a he said, she said argument. BUT!  Equally important is the fact that he’s also accused on grounds of corruption and fraud and all sorts of other things. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. The fact that he’s appealing at the high court to make them dismiss evidence doesn’t say much either. (Here’s me jumping to conclusions.) Now, I’m worried about his supporters. We’ve got COSATU who are playing lovely games supporting his camp. Now this is a MASSIVE workers union with a large amount of influence. They seem to be okay with corruption. ANC Youth league is in his favour. What does this mean – that the youth of today are good with taking a shower to prevent aids, eating beetroots if they catch it, or maybe just raping virgins to cure themselves? Let’s not even go down the corruption route with the youth league.  I’m not worried about him as president. He still has to go through the majority to get decisions passed. But wait! He’s got majority… and there-in lies my greatest fear.

I’m a White South African male. In this country, I’m at the bottom of the food chain for jobs regardless of my skills and education. I have to work hard to prove that I am capable of the job I’m doing. If I’m unhappy – I have to struggle to find something. When I’m 35, I will be nearly unemployable in this country unless policies change.  I look at these things that are happening to my beloved country. The crime is very much alive. The infrastructure is failing. The unthinking majority are voting in what appear appears to be the most corrupt official yet to lead our country.

I want to be optimistic like most South Africans, but I fear walking down the road at night in case I get mugged. Pulling up to a red traffic light, I’m constantly weary that someone is about to take my vehicle if not my life. God forbid I hit a pothole, burst a tyre and have to wait on the side of the road in the dark (thanks Eskom). I fear sending my kids to school in this country because of the falling levels of education (of course this is because government want the pass rates up, it makes sense to lower the standards). I’m a property owner (trying to get passive income for the future) who is VERY concerned about land appropriation. Right now its farms and the government are (apparently) paying a little bit of money towards the current land owners, but when will it turn into a Zimbabwe where the farms are taken away, we begin to starve.  Taking all this into consideration and then looking the fact that because a train was late due to power supply issues (thanks Eskom) or whatever a mob of angry commuters burnt the train when it eventually arrived. (Yes. This is the mentality we have to deal with.)

Now, apartheid is to blame in some areas by not supplying decent education. Although, it’s not the older generations (mostly affected) that are the cause of these issues in most cases, it’s the younger ones. No I’m not saying that its everyone in these groups, because it isn’t.

I’m unsure as to how to even begin fixing some of these issues. My pleas fall on deaf ears when it comes to government. As much as I love my country, I don’t know if I’m willing to give my life to some needless crime which could have been prevented, especially not in a country that doesn’t appreciate me as a minority.  As long as government continue to debate on topics which are borderline censorship/propaganda irrelevant and start focusing on the real issues, I will be unable to sit at home in South Africa in comfort.

Communities should not have to chase after, nor pay for services which our taxes should pay for. Nor should they take the law into their own hands. Although, sometimes I sit back and wonder, what choice do we have?

Government! It is time to wake up. The second brain drain is starting to happen. This time I fear it will be worse than it was before. Pay your police well, train them well, increase the standards in education, take care of the infrastructure, grow the economy and thereby grow your own salaries and self worth. I do live in hope that you will heed my voice and that of my peers so that we as a country will grow and prosper. South Africa - a country that I love dearly - is in uncertain times.

The world is watching, and more importantly, so are your skilled citizens.

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