ABE MOKOENA | Political change needed to change lives of the poor

Political professor Sir Paul Collier was right when he asserted, “The key reason behind economic failure is politics.”

The political hungry hyenas in this country are at it again. Seven opposition parties are coming together with the narrow and self-serving goal of just “unseating the ANC” in next year’s elections.

Talk about power-hungry politicians who are into politics for self-gain and not for the interests of the country. If the past informs the future, this coalition of the mindless should not be allowed to govern this country at all. In the past local elections, as a coalition, they took power from the ANC in the following metros: Nelson Mandela Bay, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and the City of Joburg.

Their performance showed that they are not yet fit to govern as they resembled a crippled ship struggling through a sea’s turbulence. We witnessed their endless bickering. We started to realise how corrupt they are. We saw service delivery plummeting.

We were shocked by minority parties, some with as little as two seats in council, occupying mayoral positions. We were shocked by the countless replacement of mayors. Today, most people do not even know who the executive mayor of the City of Joburg is.

This is really a reversal of democracy. And now, through their elephantine political ambitions, they are aiming “to unseat the ANC” and disrupt the national government. It is obvious that they are taking the voters for granted.

And it is the voters that should ensure that in the 2024 elections, they vote correctly so that what we are seeing happening in the metros is not replicated at national level. They should also ensure that when the local elections come, they do the same.

The opposition coalition should first have a turn- around strategy that will address the poverty problem in this country. They should convince the voter on how they will tackle the differences in incomes and the standards of living in a country where many are, as a result of among other factors, Covid-19 and the electricity problem, languishing in poverty.

They should present to the citizens how they will combat their own corruption which we see in metros where they are misgoverning as a coalition. Let them tell the voters how they will turn education around so that the skills of our graduates talk to what the economy needs.

Let them express themselves on how they will make the government more accountable and responsive to citizens. And the voters should remember that Egypt experienced revolutions in the past that did not change things because those who took over the reins recreated a similar system.

SA needs a kind of political transformation that once happened in England, France, the United States, Japan, Botswana and Brazil that resulted in a poor society becoming wealthy.

Truly, with this political opposition coalition of the mindless, SA is certainly heading for complete state failure.

• Mokoena is a Sowetan reader