This is our reality TV
It is the election year, so one expects political parties to woo voters with all elaborate promises.
Jobs, education, corruption and equal education is some of the hot topics being punted by smooth political orators before the election.
Somehow, magically, jobs will appear out of thin air, houses will fall out of the sky, and taps with running water will spring up like mushrooms.
The government has used the State of the Nation address to reflect on the past and to create the illusion that South Africa is economically not in shambles. Who is fooled?
In the wake of the Finance minister Pravin Gordhan’s budget speech that calls for South Africans to work together to radically change the economy, whoever comes into power will be under enormous pressure to follow a lofty strategy to rectify SA’s financial woes.
Funny enough, Gordhan said that economic order cannot be built on populist slogans or unrealistic promises. But the question remains, how realistic is Gordhan’s planned economic revival?
If one, therefore, takes into consideration all the election talk, along with the latest budget speech, maybe the culture of reality TV has caused us to loose touch with reality completely.
Gordhan for example said the following: “It is time for a bold vision of our future, as set out in the National Development Plan. It is time for action and implementation. It is time to move South Africa forward to the next stage of our historic journey to more rapid growth, jobs and development – time to leave behind poverty, joblessness and inequality.”
Great. And how is this going to be achieved? It is 20 years later after the first democratic election and suddenly, now, we are faced with the reality that radical action is needed.
Maybe a case of the horse having already bolted as the Rand slips into a deeper mire against foreign currencies?
The reality is, despite the promises of tax relief and social grants, people in general aren’t happy.
Talk doesn’t put food on the table, or petrol in the car, and no matter how much we increase the sin tax, you just get the feeling a lot of people will still be drowning their sorrows come the end of 2014.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise that action speaks louder than words, but we are still waiting for the pudding to taste better than mud.
According to some reports, Gauteng has since the beginning of year been rocked by more than 100 service delivery protests, costing the province somewhat R65-million in infrastructure damage.
Such a series of violent service hit home when Rondebult Road turned into a mini-war zone between police and rioters.
These protests are significant, as Gauteng is probably the most hotly fought after province in terms of the elections considering its economic value.
Yet, as things stand right now, life remains brutally tough in the City of Gold that is sparkling as bright as worn out copper.
What is quite ironic is that on the day of the protests in Boksburg, Premier Nomvula Mokonyane said during her State of the Province address that Gauteng is now a better place to live.
What? Tell that to the homeless, unemployed, disgruntled, and angry citizens of Gauteng.
Please, go and share this revelation to the hundreds of furious protesters who turned violent in Boksburg, demanding that government makes their lives a bit easier.
But then again, we all know that sufficient service delivery in the public and private sector is about as realistic as government’s promise of millions of jobs.
What is also quite hilarious is that the Premier hailed the upgrading of roads in Gauteng as something positive, thus backing the E-toll system.
Maybe it is time for the Premier to take notice of the huge outcry against service delivery and E-tolls. This calls for a reality check.
To be blunt, the leadership of this country reminds one of the crew on the Titanic who failed to spot the iceberg in time, and the rest is history.
In South-Africa there are many icebergs, and the latest budget speech is but indicative of a government trying to navigate itself through dangerous waters while trying to keep the ship afloat.
But for how long will this ship splutter forth while more people jump overboard to swim to safety?
And in this country, the captain of this “ship” will make sure he has a lifeboat, not having to go down to the depths of economic despair along with the millions of terror-stricken citizens.
Five years ago, Barack Obama caught the imagination of the American nation with his “Yes We Can” campaign. Yet, only now is the American economy showing some momentum, even though fragile at best.
Obama’s walk in the end was not as good as his talk. America is a reminder that no matter how much we brainwash the nation with sweet words, the danger remains that SA’s economy could be sinking faster than the Titanic by 2019.
This is not reality TV. South Africa might look like an endless episode of Survivor, but there is no camera man shouting cut to put an end to our misery.
