A country on the way to ruin

When the National Party rose to power it began building new South Africa based on a foundation of prosperity, justice and equal rights for all whites.
April 27 happened — the day the “real” new South Africa was born both in spirit as well as constitutionally.
The idea of any inherent superiority of the whites over the blacks was abolished.
The blacks reaffirmed their humanity. Basically, that was what the day was all about.
But clearly the acid test of democracy has come and I believe no one had an inkling how bad the leaders would fare — struggle credentials then should become less and less of a factor when choosing a leadership that will take a country forward.

I could not help but shed a tear when the State Capture Report was released on November 2.
It dawned on me that the seeds have been sown by the ANC for a harvest smaller than even the pessimists had expected. I was mostly concerned about the ramifications of the observations.
The net effect of the report solely depends on how the ruling party reacts. I know I should not overreact; it’s innuendo.

But, I am really surprised by how the ANCYL leader reacted. He said he doesn’t know who Thuli Madonsela is, some call her a spy and some a ‘big nose’.
Clearly, to some she is an incorruptible bone, she’s a beacon of hope, she’s exactly what SA needs to maintain the confidence of investors and maybe, just maybe, avoid a downgrade.
But again, the effect of the report still solely depends on how the ruling party reacts. And we are yet to see as the whole story unfolds.
Fact is: I am always a bit sceptic when it comes to matters concerning the SA economy. Political infightings are to blame.

Protesters that burn, literally, everything are to blame. And, well, SA has a history of frequent and long strikes — Amcu shut down the mining industry for five mines in 2014 —  SA platinum producers might be celebrating wage deals reached with unions  without a single day lost in strike but that doesn’t ally my fears; there are other industries.
SA really faces challenges that do not help in aiding its ailing economy.
I think for the first time the blacks and whites are roughly level pegging in considering emigration as a solution to all their problems.
Because, like me, they see partly on the ceiling and partly on the wall the moving shadow of an arm with a clenched hand holding a carving knife.

It’s flickering up and down. Its movements are leisurely.
They are leisurely enough to take in the full meaning of the portent: investors are to flee SA, bankruptcies are to be filed and homes are to be foreclosed; and only God knows how long it’ll take SA to win the investors’ confidence back.
A colleague of mine asked me how I know a country is on the way to ruin. I just look at its governance and the mindset of its people.
It doesn’t surprise me then that many believe if the whole state capture bombshell is real, the president did nothing new and/or wrong.

The whites did it as well; as a matter of fact, way more than the president did.
And they will continue supporting him — despite the dictates of reason. They’ll shut the eye of reason without considering what’s on stake.
Should Zuma be found guilty of improperly using his power and in violation of the executive code of ethics by using his position or information entrusted to him to enrich himself and businesses owned by the Gupta family and his son and continue to garner more likes and be the president of SA, it’ll be bad news for SA.

It will, as Mike Schussler of Economists Dotcoza believes, probably cost the SA economy billions of rands directly.
With a possible downgrade in December, a deficit of R2 trillion and a rising debt — it overshot the initial budget by R2.4 billion in 2015-2016 – SA’s ailing economy simply cannot afford to lose any money.
That could result with it being unable to fund even social imperatives. Let me be clear: imported medicine could be a thing of the misty past, resulting with people dying.
I am not wrong then to say if we are looking for economic freedom, it would make sense to have leaders that are economically active.
Leaders who promote, all times, that which will advance and to oppose all that may harm the country.