Let’s face it, 2021, much to the dismay of millions of our people – seems to be a repeat of last year.
Much of the same hangovers suffered last year carry over into the 2021 season of “Surviving” South Africa.
Even though we welcomed this new decade, one year in and already South Africans (the tribe) are once again bearing the brutal brunt of our government’s inefficiency.
Besides the difficulties of trying to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus, introduced to us in March of Season 2020, we now have a new South African variant – spreading like wildfire – to contend with.
This grim “reality series” continues in 2021. However, it’s now coupled with our inability to properly plan and secure a vaccine. Some of us are lucky enough to watch many of our counterparts in the developing world inoculate their populations, but we also have limited screen time, losing at least two hours a day due to Eskom and its never-ending challenge, load shedding.
Our hospitals remain ill-prepared for the worst, and injuries can get pretty grim. Health care in our country is in a shambles. Far too many of us cannot afford R850 for a Covid-19 test, and many are scared of getting the virus at our public health-care facilities.
Our host, President Cyril Ramaphosa, was so proud of having an empty trauma unit at one of the top hospitals in our country on January 1 this year, that it got mentioned in “tribal council”, also fondly referred to as our “family meeting” – together with the decision to shut down the sale, consumption and distribution of alcohol. Yes, the trauma units being empty is something to celebrate. However, we cannot be proud of shutting down industries, due to the lack of personal responsibility in our consumption of alcohol. We must do better. We must find a better balance.
Front-line workers, the members of the tribe most revered for their selfless sacrifice in saving lives, continuously fear for their own lives – partly because many of the personal protective equipment (PPE) tenders got bungled. Corruption once again seeped in. So, too, does the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, led by Judge Zondo, continue. Hopefully, there will be some closure this year as Judge Zondo and his team of legal experts are expected to deliver a final report to the president.
Then there are the unions. Their multiple pleas and fights for workers’ rights and justice continue.
However, it is not all doom and gloom. We have so much to be hopeful for: besides our planned census and getting counted by StatsSA, we will be taking our frustrations to the polls.
This year’s elections will hopefully see a better youth turnout participating in our local government elections, and we hope for better representation. I am sure the usual Covid-19 Ts and Cs will still apply at the IEC polling stations, in either August, October or November, whichever date is promulgated by the president.
Let’s hope he announces this in his State of the Nation address in February. I urge you all to tune in to Season 2021 of “Surviving” South Africa, where overtaxed, underpaid, stressed and strained South Africans try to bear it all, and yet still make their votes count, in pursuit of the dream of a “better life for all”. We have been through a lot, and we are possibly the most resilient nation on the world stage.
The author, Yaseen Carelse is the Head of Media and Communications for the Inkatha Freedom Party in Parliament.
The Star