While writing this article, most of Johannesburg is suffering electricity blackouts and there is no running water in the houses, businesses and shopping malls. If it is the government’s aim to ensure an equal society they are succeeding; now nobody has any modern civilised services.
The school pass mark required has dropped from 45% to 30% and only the rich can afford cars and houses, and senior government officials are appointed at huge salaries without the appropriate qualifications. The endemic no-consequences policy remains just a wishful aspiration of the citizens.
During 1988, Eddy Grant, a British-Guyanese singer, produced an extremely popular song, “Gimme Hope Jo’anna”. Jo’anna is a reference to Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa and then symbolic of the apartheid government.
“The preacher who works for Jesus, the Archbishop who's a peaceful man” is a reference to the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, who received the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his fight against apartheid.
Some of the lyrics are as follows (the word Jo’anna can be replaced with ANC and apartheid with corruption, to make it appropriate for present-day times):
Well Jo'anna she runs a country…
She makes a few of her people happy, oh
She don't care about the rest at all
She's got a system they call apartheid
It keeps a brother in subjection
But maybe pressure can make Jo'anna see
How everybody could live as one
Even the preacher who works for Jesus
The Archbishop who's a peaceful man
Together say that the freedom fighters
Will overcome the very strong.
Oh, to tempt anyone who'd come
She even knows how to swing opinion
In every magazine and the journals.
I want to know if you’re blind Jo'anna
If you want to hear the sound of drums
Can’t you see that the tide is turning
Oh don't make me wait till the morning come.
Just as the above lyrics are not mere words on paper, so too is our Constitution. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
Part of the Bill of Rights of citizens is: Health care, food, water, and social security.
1. Everyone has the right to have access to (a) health-care services, including reproductive health care; (b) sufficient food and water; and (c) social security, including, if they are unable to support themselves and their dependants, appropriate social assistance.
2. The state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of each of these rights.
As things stand in South Africa there have been no consequences for the authorities to be held accountable for the lack of water in many areas. A major problem was experienced in Cape Town, thereafter, Port Elizabeth and now more often in the Johannesburg area. This is despite full dams.
Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan has come under attack and the Minister of Minerals and Energy (Gwede Mantashe), but the Minister of Water and Sanitation (Senzo Mchunu) hardly makes the news headlines. None of the ministers have been sacked for non-performance.
3. Privacy. Everyone has the right to privacy, which includes the right not to have
(a) their person or home searched; their property searched; (c) their possessions seized; or the privacy of their communications infringed. To further enhance this right the government enacted the Popi Act, which states:
“The Parties agree that they may obtain personal information during the duration of the Agreement for the fulfilment of the rights and obligations contained herein and may further only process such information for the specific purposes of complying with their obligations in terms of this Agreement. The Parties agree that if personal information will be processed for additional purposes beyond the original purpose for which it was obtained, explicit written consent must be obtained beforehand from the other Party.”
However, if there is one right that is abused daily it is the “right” that banks use to abuse clients if they deem them in arrears of their payment obligations. This information about a private agreement is passed on to credit agencies who then distribute this information to other third unrelated parties such as other credit providers and employers. Not only do they list such clients, it is often used to harass and threaten clients that they will be blacklisted if they do not pay as required by the bank.
What good is a consumer protection act while they are subject to abuse by the powerful financial institutions and such individuals cannot afford our court system?
The song, “Bring Us Hope Jo’anna”, is as relevant today as in 1988. The citizens and private sector is stepping in the shoes of the authorities and making things happen.
As the Post Office began to fail in its service delivery many private companies came to the fore. Small franchise businesses such as PostNet and various courier businesses rose to fill the gap and today not even the government itself makes use of the Post Office.
Many towns have decided to withhold their taxes and they pay these into a trust account from where they take money to fix potholes and deliver other services.
One of the government departments that disappeared in obscurity is the government garage, which serviced government vehicles. Instead the government now purchases cars with extended service plans, at what cost is anyone’s guess.
But the biggest failure of the government to hold on to its position as a service provider is in the national transport space. At the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) the breakdown in controls at the entity, failing infrastructure together with repeated incidents of accidents, theft, vandalism, delays and security issues have impacted negatively on rail commuters and the ability of Prasa to effectively discharge its mandate.
Prasa’s performance has continued to be in a downward spiral with the 2019/20 entity only achieving 17.5% of its planned targets.
Once again it is the private sector that came to the rescue. The taxi industry, at a huge cost to the consumer, fills this essential gap today.
The SAA story is painful to add to the failing service delivery of the government. SAA had 700 pilots seven years ago and they now have only 80. Their claim to victory is that the ratio of black to white pilots is now more in line with their targets.
The private sector will also have to fill the gaps here, and unfortunately, most of that will be from foreign airlines.
As the government loses its hold on service delivery the private sector is picking up the slack.
The voters will have the last say. The latest Hitachi revelations may just be the last straw.
That could be the hope we are all waiting for.
Corrie Kruger is an independent analyst.
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