LET’S FOCUS ON THE REAL ISSUE OF THE UPCOMING ELECTIONS: COLLAPSING MUNICIPALITIES
Response to So whose bodies are mourned and whose are mocked?
Ms Pikoli’s criticism [of the DA’s posters in Durban] is selective about the facts surrounding the Phoenix issue. No mention is made of the other 340 people who died in the looting that took place in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. No mention is made of who orchestrated this event with military precision. It certainly was not the action of an impoverished population when Mercedes and BMWs were lining up to pick up looted TV screens that were too big to carry by hand.
The real issue that the local elections is about is that local government has collapsed in 80% of our municipalities. Infrastructure like roads, water and sewer mains is collapsing. Wastewater treatment plants are breaking down. Local government suffers from a serious lack of qualified engineers who have the skills to rectify these problems.
South Africa is bound to collapse economically because our municipalities are just not coping or functioning, mainly due to a lack of skilled personnel across all services. The next serious countrywide drought will bring economic activity to its knees because the government neglects the proper management of our very scarce water resources.
The above scenario is what journalists should be concentrating their efforts on, in order to get the message across to all voters that it is getting a bit late in the day to save local government in South Africa. Political posters are nothing but comic strips. Is the DA poster any worse than the President’s promise to create 150,000 new jobs the day after the ANC gain control of Joburg? They merely portray the chronic level of irrelevance to which our political parties have fallen. Where are the real leaders of this country who are now desperately needed to save our country?
Unless we find an alternative political system to replace the current shambolic state of affairs in our municipalities, South Africa can only continue to slide down the slippery slope to complete failure.
Alan Norman