Our slippery slide to oblivion has begun
So far, the IEC is satisfied with this weekend’s registration drive, estimating a turnout of one million voters on Saturday. The weekend was, unfortunately, marred by violence in Vuwani in Limpopo, where residents were protesting at their inclusion in a new municipality. There were also problems at two registration points in Khayelitsha.
The local government elections are our one chance to vote for an individual – a councillor – and not a party to represent us at the most basic level of government. At a time when the political landscape is anything but stable, the elections also serve as a barometer of support for the incumbent government.
It’s up to all of us to send the correct message. THE CURRENT state of affairs in South Africa is fast eroding our hard-won constitutional democracy, as the world looks as the country slides day by day. Parliament has become tainted, not only in South Africa but in the eyes of the world.
Soon after the finance minister’s speech that provided us with much-needed space to breathe again, the president went on to say Des van Rooyen was the best-suited and -qualified for the job; this made the market jittery again.
However, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan assured business and the markets that he could steady the ship with tight fiscal controls and discipline. Now how can we move forward as a country if the president is batting for someone else? Can we be trusted on anything we say? As things stand now, Gordhan is the subject of a smear campaign in which organs of the state are used, along with an intricate plan to tarnish his impeccable image.
His commissioner wants to keep his hands on the purse strings at all costs and refuses oversight by hisown minister.
How can this state of affairs bring stability to our market and the investors abroad?
We are prolific signers of bilateral trade agreements the world over, while at the same time being serial transgressors of these agreements. We have degenerated into partners of mistrust. We fail to honour international mandates and agreements.
This once-powerful player on the African continent and sub-Saharan Africa is run by a cartel called the executive under the guise of a collective.
Ordinary South Africans are having to pay the ultimate price. The slide has indeed begun. Ask our Minister of International Relations and Cooperation to be candid and tell the nation that we are on the way to oblivion.