HOW TO AVOID A FAILED STATE
The solution is a simple one: get the criminals in court and then get them into jail
Every few weeks, on these pages and in other media, someone wonders out loud whether SA is becoming a failed state. A few weeks ago outgoing National Treasury director-general Dondo Mogajane said if we don’t act swiftly “we can start calling SA a failing state because the things that define a failing state are beginning to show”. He is right.
One way to help arrest the decline is to immediately prosecute every single person implicated in the Zondo Commission reports. Of course it can be done. Most of the evidence is already there. Civil society organisations have offered to help. What we need is for politicians to provide the necessary extra funding and step back and for the National Prosecuting Authority to start showing some signs of life.
In 2010 we set up a huge police and court infrastructure to ensure safety at the Soccer World Cup. We succeeded and were applauded by citizens and visitors alike. A message was sent that we take accountability seriously. It is time that message was sent again. This time the stakes are much higher. We must restore accountability and underline the supremacy of the rule of law.
One of the great blessings of my adult life is that I’ve had the opportunity to travel and live across the world. The greatest lesson from all these travels was visiting Nigeria numerous times in the early 2000s and experiencing state failure first-hand.
Led by Olusegun Obasanjo, the country was trying to renew and rejuvenate itself after decades of dictatorships that looted the country. The claws of corruption, however, were sunk deep in every area of Nigerian life and the country still battles to recover today.
Nigeria is my favourite country. The abundance of energy, innovation, charm and beauty that exists in that country and among its people is unsurpassed. But its great lesson for me was how corruption kills nations and drives talent away. Blessed with oil and other resources, Nigeria has failed to use this wealth to empower its people. Why? The ruling elite was corrupt and operated with impunity for decades. Of course, there is the legacy of colonialism and machinations by the robber barons of the oil industry.
All these assertions are true and we should learn from all of them. We should also remember that Nigeria became independent in 1960 and its people cannot eat politicians’ excuses.
When I first visited Nigeria I was struck by the fact that every single one of my friends and acquaintances ran their lives despite their government, instead of alongside what their government was doing. Electricity blackouts had been going on for decades (three weeks ago the entire national electricity grid collapsed for the second time in a month). All the services that government exists to provide — water, electricity, transport, waste removal, health care, safety and security — were up to individuals to organise for themselves.
Why? When the political elite was looting the country, they did so with impunity. They were never prosecuted. The thieves became emboldened and accelerated the looting.
In SA today virtually every aspect of government service has reached breaking point. The passenger rail network has collapsed. Eskom was broken by the ANC. Pregnant women sleep on the floor at some of our public hospitals. Interns at Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital don’t get paid for months.
There is a correlation between failing states and outward migration. Our most talented people will leave, by fair means or foul, when our leadership fails them. Ask Zimbabwean doctors and scientists why they have fled their country. Ask Nigerians. It’s simple: the rule of law collapsed, impunity reigned supreme and their countries became gangster states.
It feels wrong and unpatriotic to make comparisons between SA and many failed states elsewhere. It is easier to say: “It won’t happen to us.”
That is untrue. Denialism won’t help. The more useful thing is to act, as Mogajane has said. One sure way to change the trajectory is to swiftly, methodically, publicly and fairly prosecute every single person implicated in the Zondo commission report. Every single one.
Otherwise we will continue on the downward path.