SA nears failed state status
When the head of the National Treasury warns us the country is heading towards becoming a failed state, we have every reason to worry. However, it should not be the statement that Treasury director-general Dondo Mogajane made that gets our heads spinning, but the fact that it is the truth.
With the current rate of corruption, lawlessness, massive vandalism of public property and general illegality pertaining to immigration policy, South Africa is on the brink of falling into the failed state trap.
Mogajane is not a newcomer to Treasury, having risen through the ranks of the department. He has seen a number of ministers of finance come and go and witnessed most of the drama of state capture and an attempt to steal the entire public purse.
He has a good understanding of the spending trends, including the wasteful and fruitless expenditure and theft still happening in the public service.
He knows where the problem is, where most money is spent and where the fat should be cut. But, at the same time, he knows there are untouchables, such as the civil service wage bill.
SA has been relegated to junk status and again was recently confirmed as the most unequal country in the world by the World Bank.
At every level, post-apartheid SA seems to be going south. Corruption has become business as usual in government.
Among the early characteristics of a failing state is the high rate of unemployment and increased lawlessness. The potholes on urban roads and dongas on rural gravel roads usually come next. In South Africa, the railway and telecommunications networks are also dead due to vandalism and cable theft.
The worst sign of a failing state is increased vigilantism, with people taking the law into their own hands to deal with criminality.
It is easy to dub the ongoing Operation Dudula activities as xenophobia, ignoring the underlying causes of such activism. Dudula came about after numerous political parties and organisations in the recent past called for government to control illegal migrants. I have lost count of how many parties have been launched since the African Transformation Movement put the matter on top of its agenda.
The state has failed to implement policies to stop illegal migrants from entering the country. Recent foiled armed robberies showed foreign and local robbers work together to commit heists. The state is reactive instead of proactive when dealing with such problems.
It is no fabrication that some employers discriminate against locals in the retail sector, fuel stations, used-car dealerships, domestic work and hospitality industry – and prefer to hire foreigners.
Phumudzo Mukhwathi, chair of the civil society movement People’s Liberation, had a point when he said the constant stream of illegal migrants through the northern borders is a time bomb that will explode in the face of our government one day. He maintains the fight between Zimbabwean and Lesotho labourers in Robertson, Western Cape, was the start.
Many countries north of SA began as thriving economies after colonialism. They inherited functioning infrastructure but it all died after years of independence as corruption and criminality took over. South Africa is taking that direction and, sadly, does not have far to go.
At every level, post-apartheid SA seems to be going south. Corruption has become business as usual in government.