VBS arrests are a welcome, strong signal

Political leadership is not just about making policies, enacting laws and giving out instructions to minions.

It’s also about signals.

It is about the right signals at the right time to the right constituency.

Nothing reflects this more than the arrest of the smug bunch of people suspected of stealing R2.3bn from VBS, the mutual bank which collapsed in 2018, depriving thousands of poor people of their savings and pensions.

The joy that greeted news of the arrests should not be underestimated.

Our people are in despair. They believe that their disgust and outrage at the rampant corruption that stalks the land is not heard.

When, after so many exposés and no action, something is finally done, our people are apoplectic with joy.

It is a sign to the good citizens that says: “We hear you. We are doing something about it. We will not let our country become a basket case where the corrupt rule and the honest cower in fear.

“You did not make a mistake in choosing your leaders.

“Perhaps, just a small perhaps, they really are who they claimed to be when they were on the election trail.”

Signals need to be sent often.

The VBS arrests are a great signal.

The arrest of those involved in state capture would be another very good signal.

Seeing these state-capture bandits bait South Africans on social media has been debilitating.

Signals will be important over the next few months.

SA has been sending the wrong signals for years.

We elected Jacob Zuma, a man accused of fraud and corruption, and rape, to the presidency of the ANC and the country.

Wrong signal to the world. Zuma destroyed the Scorpions and denuded every institution that dared challenge his reckless actions.

Many kept quiet. Very bad signal.

After 2007 the terrible signals came thick and fast from the ANC, from ministers, from parliament and from many in civil society who lay down and purred under Zuma ’ s charms.

An organisation like Cosatu rolled over and said it would kill for Zuma, while he destroyed the very jobs which make the existence of a trade union a possibility.

Our descent to junk status was because we sent the wrong signals to the international investor community.

We showed them that we can’t be trusted with running this economy.

Junk status is merely a signal from lenders to us that they believe we have no idea what we are doing.

What are the key signals needed for SA to survive the Covid-19 storm and get to a place of prosperity?

Well, we have to show a sense of purpose and a sense that we understand how deep our problems are.

On Thursday Edcon’s 22,000 workers were served with retrenchment notices by the company’s business rescue practitioners.

Companies from the ailing Cell C to the SABC and to Sasol are cutting jobs.

In response, President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “Given the massive impact that the coronavirus is having on jobs, our immediate priority is creating employment.

“I have often said that the post-Covid-19 economic landscape is similar to a post-war landscape. We have to do the extraordinary.”

These are fine words. He will need to send a signal, and a strong one at that, which shows that he is being serious about what he says.

We need strong signals on the economy. We need the right signals on the stateowned enterprises.

We need strong signals on corruption, which now stretches across all parts of our society and hangs like a miasma over all our interactions.

We need a signal that there has been a real and meaningful break with the past.

The Zondo Commission needs to be empowered in all ways — financial and institutional — to conclude its work and for its leads and evidence to be handed over to law-enforcement agencies.

We need signals on our education system and the challenges it continues to face.

South African children should not be laggards in the world.

The public school system cannot continue to be classed as developing world while the private school system is on a par with developed country outcomes.

That’s grotesque.

This has been said many times before but it is worth saying again: the coronavirus has put the entire world on notice.

Continuing to fluff about is not an option.

Competition — for investment, for attention, for opportunities — is intense out there.

How we handle the next six months, inspiring confidence among our people and the world, will be key.

The VBS arrests are a huge step forward.

More is needed.

The VBS arrests should not be a flash in the pan.

Confidence is built, one signal at a time.

We need to keep building to restore confidence among our people and the world.