MINISTER of Justice Jeff Radebe was at pains recently to explain that the safety and security measures in place in Marikana were not a declaration of a state of emergency.

However, the recent, indiscriminate raids on the Marikana mining community and the capricious breaking up of meetings belie his protestations. Our worst fears are being realised. A state of emergency by any other name remains a state of emergency.

South Africans should have known better when eight ministers, mainly from the security cluster, had the army chiefs in tow, the police and even invoked apartheid-era legislation for such a declaration.

This should have reminded us of the dark, oppressive days when securocrats were in charge of our country provoking national outrage.

Truth be told, the ministers' show, if one may call it that, did not cover them in glory.

Instead, what was probably intended as a noble effort at re-establishing the authority of the state brought to the fore massive governance fault lines and leadership deficiencies.

Our country is supposed to be a democracy where the leaders and the led are "at one with one another".

The government has to be in touch with the governed and communities have to have confidence in their leaders.

To the contrary, the persistent community protests compounded by ever-growing strike action in the mines, and now with truckers joining in, demonstrates a wide gulf that has developed between the leaders of both country and trade unions (unfortunately (National Union of Mineworkers has become a sweetheart union) and those they claim to represent.

The disconnect is glaring and is one of the key reasons that are fueling the unrest at the mines and within some communities.

The strategy, if it is one, of "skop en donner" accentuates this disconnect as pronouncements by ministers echo those of apartheid leaders.

There is no room for honest and open engagements with striking workers and this has the effect of closing the democratic space that South Africans have hitherto enjoyed.

Indeed, intimidation, threats, carrying of dangerous weapons and killings are unacceptable in a democracy and must not only be condemned but also be discouraged.

But paranoia and over-the-top responses should not be the only resort as this goes to demonstrate how removed the leaders are from their constituencies and how unprepared the state is in dealing with the discontent. Or does it mean the state is in a state of panic?

Given the Marikana carnage the government's continued violation of people's rights to assembly - by arbitrarily breaking up meetings - the important task of restoring the credibility and, by extension, legitimacy of the state cannot be entrusted with the police as they have proved to be trigger-happy.

They are misinterpreting this task as giving them a licence to harass, assault, arrest and even kill and will ultimately turn our country into a police state, given their propensity to act extra-judicially.

Their actions only serve to hurt the credibility of the police service which is already in tatters.

The police cannot therefore be the first port of call.

Anyway, who said high-handedness brings stability?

And does it mean if you are poor the Constitution doesn't equally protect your freedom of association and many other human rights enshrined therein?

Our country is in a deep crisis or is it at crossroads?

This calls for decisive and ever-present leadership, not some absentee landlord with tunnel vision.

The anger against and resultant resentment of leaders has part of its roots in the seemingly unchanging socio-economic conditions of the majority of South Africans.

The real issue is not only Marikana and the mine industry in the country.

The problem is more economic than political, with the concomitant poverty of ideas of the current administration on how to sort out the issues at hand.

Hence, they resort to apartheid-style tactics and verkrampte solutions instead of facing the beast in the eyes: that 18 years into our democracy, apartheid-like economic conditions of blacks are still intact while a few black faces, including prominent former and current unionists and political leaders, live in opulence.

This compounds the fury of black miners and communities more than the political no-show that is President Jacob Zuma's administration.

We therefore need a comprehensive strategy that emphasises on tackling the socioeconomic issues that give rise to the resentment ordinary people feel.

Such a strategy also has to help bridge the gap between the leaders and the led.

It must deal decisively with the arrogance, insensitivity, dishonesty and resistance to transformation of mine owners for the response not to be perceived as odd-handed in favour of mine bosses.

The government has rightfully identified the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality as a powder keg.

Its response to the crisis has to invariably be located within its strategy of combating these challenges.

Ill-conceived, apartheid-like actions that led to the Marikana massacre will not bring stability.

It is incomprehensible that the new securocrats should set us on this dangerous, slippery slope, as their "plan" is not sustainable.

It also does not address the root cause of the crisis but superficially deals with the symptoms.

Arrogance can only inflame the already volatile situation.

• Mogomotsi Mogodiri is a political and media commentator