US government makes ours seem useless
A VERY unlikely parable but a real one – American president Joe Biden has just addressed a joint sitting of congress in which he made an ambitious pitch, redefining the government’s role in the lives of ordinary Americans.
He has unveiled a $1.8 trillion plan that will see the upliftment of the welfare of lower- to middle-income groups, children and education. This will be funded by a tax hike on the wealthiest individuals and corporate business.
In contrast, here in South Africa we have a president who is appearing before a commission of inquiry into state capture. He is currently appearing in his capacity as president of the governing/majority party, the ANC. There is an urgent need for the government to redefine its role in society. There is a very fine, muddled line between the government and the governing party. We have a crisis in higher education, and a special grant for unemployed people has stopped after one year.
So the opposite of what's happening in America is playing out here.
Politics should be an honourable venture. Those who stand for public office should stand in the belief that South Africans deserve more than narcotic babble punctuated by demagoguery, slander and corruption.
As the cadre deployment issue came under the spotlight, it became blatantly evident that unprofessional and ill-qualified personnel had been put in key positions. Now “unmasked”, Ramaphosa’s sanitised explanations are palliative.
It seems many of our politicians suffer from the Dunning-Kruger effect. This is a hypothetical cognitive bias stating that people with a low ability at a task overestimate their ability. I deem this a kind of pathological narcissism.
The sooner we get our act together, the better! With this accelerating tempest of lies and betrayal, we really are becoming a circus in Africa.