Just do it – should be our motto
Douglas Gibson, a former opposition chief whip and South Africa’s ambassador to Thailand, is a writer, political analyst and
public speaker
THE SLOGAN “Just do it” became iconic for Nike. It was inspired by the last words of convicted Utah killer Gary Gilmore, but it sums up the can-do spirit of Americans. South Africa should adopt Nike’s slogan as our national motto.
I wonder why it takes so long to do everything; especially in the government at national, provincial and municipal level.
From the time a problem crops up to the time someone responsible takes note; from the time they announce something is to be done until the appointment of a task force to investigate; to the announcement of the investigation’s results; to action, months, if not years have past. I have space for three examples. General Riah Phiyega has been a flop since her unlikely appointment as national police commissioner three years ago. On March 31 of this year, Judge Farlam handed a report to President Jacob Zuma calling into question her fitness for office and, among other things, her truthfulness. The findings were simple and clear, but the president took months to consider the report, only releasing it to the public on June 25.
During those three months, he seems not to have called General Phiyega in and said: “Look here, the judge says you’re a liar and that you’re unfit to be the national commissioner. Please tell me why I shouldn’t get rid of you or else please just resign.”
Instead, on June 25, he gave her five weeks to respond. Weeks went by, with media speculation of: “Will she? Won’t she? She hasn’t; yes, she has.”
Two months after the announcement, the leadership of the SAPS has brought itself into disrepute with Parliament and General Phiyega has further proved her unsuitability by having an itchy Twitter finger. Five months after the Farlam recommendation, the president on August 21 announced a commission of inquiry to investigate what Farlam advised.
Many months will pass before this ends. After which she will no doubt appeal.
Is this person, clearly untruthful and unfit for office, at least in the view of Judge Farlam, fit for office in the eyes of the president? If he wanted to retain her, he should have told the country and the SAPS that and at least stopped the uncertainty and the debilitating effect on everyone concerned.
If Phiyega is to go, we could have been several months closer to that if a sense of urgency had prevailed, limiting the damage to the SAPS, to the fight against crime and to the morale of policemen and -women.
Everybody involved in the tourist industry is aware that the new visa requirements demanding personal attendance at a South African embassy, no agent representation and onerous requirements for children travelling have been blamed for a disastrous setback to our tourist figures.
On February 12, in his State of the Nation address, Zuma said the state would prioritise the review of the visa regulations to strike a balance between national security and growth in tourism. Nothing happened.
The furore went unnoticed at the top of the government and the Home Affairs minister and his spokesperson seemed to have won the battle, costing the country thousands of jobs and millions in lost revenue.
Six months after the State of the Nation address, the president addressed the media on August 11, saying: “We have noted with concern the complaints about the new visa regulations.” He said the ministerial committee would address the “unintended consequences” of the new immigration regula- tions on various sectors, including tourism and investment. Nothing has happened since then and one wonders if the ministers have even met on this issue. What could be more important than this for the ministers of Tourism and Home Affairs?
What of our manufacturing industry? Many are aware that we are becoming deindustrialised, losing tens of thousands of jobs. One particularly difficult situation is that of the steel industry which has slid into what may be a terminal decline because our Chinese trading partners have tariff-free access to dump their government-subsidised and -supported steel here at costs lower than our own loss-making producers.
Instead of being concerned for the future of an important industry, some of our ministers have tried to force our steelmakers to sell steel locally at “developmental” prices.
During June, Lakshmi Mittal, of Arcelor Mittal, came to South Africa to brief the president and members of the government about the disastrous situation of steel and to “beg” (in the words of the Sunday Times) for rescue. No action followed and the closure of steel plants was foreshadowed.
Suddenly one learns that a meeting is to be held between the government, unions and the steelmakers. Surely that could have happened two months ago before the closures became imminent?
These are only three examples of the inertia on the part of those we elect to attend to the governing of our country.
Sometimes it is the president, but where ministers cause the delay, is it a lack of management control or too little passion for the job or an own ideological agenda?
Whatever the explanation, it must embarrass the president hugely.
One hears that a cabinet reshuffle is about to take place. Perhaps those who let the president down by failing to act when he says they will should be discarded in favour of fresh faces hungry for office and who want to serve our people to the best of their ability and with a sense of urgency.