Corruption, not hunger, will get masses to rise up – analyst

The ANC’s corruption, not a food crisis brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, could cause civil unrest in South Africa, said a political analyst.

Xolani Dube, senior researcher at Xubera Institute for Research and Development, said SA had no shortage of food and had money. The country could not reach the level of Zimbabwe’s food shortages because that government had neither money nor food for the people.

Dube was commenting after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s promise to ensure the lockdown would be downgraded to Level 3 in some areas received mixed reaction. Some said his nationwide speech was “good for nothing” and others praised the president for keeping South Africans in the loop about government’s efforts to fight the spread of the coronavirus.

Riots and police action in Mexico, a developing nation with similar economic conditions to SA, led to concern that similar events might happen here.

“No food riot should be expected in SA due to the Covid-19 but the ANC’s twisted scoop economic policies and its general and food parcel corruption may cause civil unrest among the poor,” Dube said.

The middle to upper classes were able to buy food – unless they lost jobs – but the poor were deprived of food access by ANC councillors who either stole it, or gave it to relatives while beneficiaries went hungry.

“In South Africa there is no crisis of food security but there is a crisis of access to food. The government spends billions to give food parcels to the poor. But people can’t access these parcel because of corruption,” he said.

The corruption in the ANC was not caused by any individual but the entire collective, Dube claimed.

“Corruption and unfair and inhumane economic systems are the cause of anarchy in society. We frequently see communities attacking houses of councillors because of some form of corruption.”

The ANC inherited, but failed to dismantle, the apartheid system and its structures that undermined the poor in particular.

“The ANC is not servicing the people but it’s about the elite. It destroyed the economy of this country,” Dube said.

Political analyst Lesiba Teffo said the R350 relief grant during the lockdown for the unemployed was good and a win for the government.

But, he said, people “should have been made to clean the streets, clean the schools and remove rubble to earn it”.

“We should nurture a culture where you earn rather than you receive.”

Teffo said the government had done well by first imposing Level 5 to contain the virus spread and mobilise resources, and, therefore it may not be not found wanting like some European countries.

But the Al Jama-ah party rejected any suggestion by the president to try to balance saving of lives with the economy.

“Saving lives must trump saving livelihoods, so Al Jama-ah rejects the advice of the president,” said party parliamentary leader Ganief Hendricks,

He said strict health safety regulations must be maintained otherwise the virus infections would escalate.

He criticised Ramaphosa for giving in to big business and the DA in announcing possibly moving the lockdown from Level 4 to Level 3 at some places at the end of the month.

Saving lives must trump saving livelihoods