They promised the good and delivered the bad
They promised a better life for all and delivered by shutting down nursing and education colleges, industries and product control boards. They promised reconciliation and sustainable development and delivered inferior RDP houses, narrow streets with potholes, no street lights and intermittent water supply. When it rains, electricity disappears. And yes, they brought us the arms deal and load-shedding.
They promised equal opportunities for all but delivered us a well-structured system of kleptocracy, jobs for pals, girlfriends and Ben 10s while unemployed graduates wallow in self-pity.
They promised equal pay for equal work but when miners called them on this they were mown down in numbers.
They promised to open the doors of learning to all but delivered us a 30% pass mark and a system of jobs-for-cash, alternatively jobs-forsex, resulting in the appointment of less qualified persons to positions of power.
When we reminded them of the urgent need to introduce free quality education up to first post-matric qualification, they beat us and locked us up.
They promised a safe and crimefree society and delivered by compromising the integrity of crimebusting institutions, starting with the highly effective Directorate of Special Investigations, Crime Intelligence and specialised detective units such as child protection and sexual offences, and Correctional Services. They delivered colourful characters such as Menzi Simelane, Nomgcobo Jiba, Lawrence Mrwebi, Mokotedi Mpshe, Richard Mdluli, S’bu Ndebele, Mthandazo Ntlemeza, David “The Grabber” Mahlobo and many more.
It is only by fluke that their aggressive efforts to capture the judiciary have, to date, not been successful.
They promised improved and safer transportation and delivered mammoth trains inoperable on the existing rail network. Trains that do run are always late, thanks to aged infrastructure. Taxis and buses remain active killing machines on our roads. They have failed to rein in unruly elements in the taxi industry.
They delivered tollgates and demanded that the heavily taxed middle class dig further into its pockets, while delivering bailouts to SAA.
Prasa (Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa) is infamous for paying ridiculous salaries to overpaid executives while employees take home embarrassingly low wages.
They promised access to free, quality health and social services and delivered by killing more than 100 mentally ill patients and caused national discomfort when they left the Constitutional Court with no other option but to extend an illegal Cash Paymaster Services contract to ensure the most vulnerable receive their social grants.
They promised a human rights approach to foreign policy and delivered by propping up the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Joseph Kabila and helping Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir to escape the International Criminal Court, and sending our troops to die in faraway countries to protect politicians’ business interests.
They promised clean, efficient, effective and transparent government and delivered Jacob Zuma and the Gupta dynasty.
Now they are promising us radical economic transformation …