SERVE THE PEOPLE? THAT’S A MUG’S GAME

IN THE bad old apartheid days we had a parliament of members who represented less than half the people of South Africa. This was an unjust arrangement and had to be changed.

I sometimes feel that the modern South Africa has a parliament of members who do not represent any South Africans.

Instead they represent political parties, which is not the same thing at all.

You and I don’t vote for people to speak on our behalf. We vote for a political party. After that it seems it’s no longer any of our business what is decided up there in Government Avenue. The leaders of the various parties decide how their members will vote on each issue and that’s it.

I have no idea who speaks on my behalf when laws are being made. In the bad old days the MP for the Colesberg area was a Mr Venter.

I don’t think our family liked him much because he was a Nat and we were United Party people (those were very much the only choices offered to us). The point was that he represented us in Parliament and if we wanted something done he was the man to go to. And if we disliked something the politicians had done, Mr Venter was the man we held responsible.

In the New South Africa the theory is that all South Africans, regardless of race, gender or religion, have an equal voice in the running our country. This should be a good thing, if it were not for the simple fact that we can’t choose people from our own communities to represent us.

The political parties choose on our behalf. Can we be at all surprised, then, that our country is in such bad shape?

The railways, the airline, the electricity supply all have to be “bailed out” every year and this costs us billions of rand. I don’t think the politicians care a hoot about this.

They don’t have to go back to the voters and say, “Sorry, people, we have screwed up and wasted your money.” All that happens is that political parties blame each other for the massive incompetence. Politicians are constantly in the news for corruption and incompetence, but nothing really happens to them – nobody gets fired or jailed.

The old ship of state continues on its leaky voyage, while politicians bad-mouth each other and the way to a comfortable job in Parliament is to suck up to the big shots of a political party in the hope that they’ll put you on the candidate list.

Serve the people? That’s a mug’s game. Serve the party and you’re in for a cushy ride on the Great Gravy Train of State. Last Laugh A retired engineer was asked by a former colleague what he did to pass the time now that he had retired.

“I’m working on the aquathermal treatment of ceramics, aluminium and steel under a constrained environment,” he said.

“That sounds impressive. What does it entail?” asked the friend.

“Washing dishes for my wife,” he said.