Editorial
Johannesburg - We are sitting on a time bomb. As we report today, the omens are appalling. Charities and welfare organisations are under immense strain. There is little to no relief in sight; unemployment is exceptionally high with no signs of subsiding; the economy is stagnant and prices are spiralling.
Bringing the increasing wave of Eskom power cuts under control, with a real plan to address deficiencies in the grid and generation capacity would be a real start, but even with a brand-new dedicated ministry there seems to be neither answer nor political will.
There is an inevitability about what will happen next; hopelessness and cynicism in a society where crime is intolerably high and basic service delivery is failing will lead to an even worse, potentially catastrophic state of affairs.
If people have no jobs, no shelter as winter approaches and empty bellies, then we are looking straight over the edge of the precipice into a future of lawlessness and rebellion.
This is neither an idle observation nor a vexatious one. Hope is already at a premium in a country where one third of the population has to receive a social welfare grant, which the government uses to show as an affirmation of its humanity.
And that’s a key part of the problem. Social grants should be the bare minimum, a safety net in a society which has the basic foundations in place to encourage business, investment, jobs and prosperity.
Instead, the government has to borrow money to fund its overpaid, bloated and incompetent public service – as well as see to a social welfare system that is already grossly ill-equipped for the humanitarian crisis that is bearing down.
We don’t need a commission of inquiry, Mr President. We need a plan. And we need someone to implement it.
Fewer and fewer people believe that person is you.