We need a Churchill to switch us on

Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when I took my running a lot more seriously, I would regularly meet a group of friends and fellow athletes, after work and on the weekends, at the Wanderers.

We would either run distance around the surrounding suburbs or do speed work on the bottom field.

After a while, we noticed the grass track in the athletic stadium was degenerating and the change rooms were looking shabby. We drew this to the attention of the affable head of the athletics club, the legendary Joe Stutzen.

Joe, in his familiar friendly way, suggested we raise our concerns at an upcoming general meeting. When we gathered after a training session to nominate a spokesperson, we discovered to our shame that not one of our large circle of squabblers was a member of the club. We were just a bunch of opinionated freeloaders, making constant use of facilities without contributing a cent to their upkeep.

It wasn't a life-changing episode; I didn't feel a sudden compulsion to resign from "Rockies" and join the Wanderers. But, from then on, our group became more humble and less visible. To this day, though, the incident still presses me to behave like a good corporate citizen and pay for what I use. So, I balance my taxes to the cent, settle my TV licence on time and even have an e-toll tag on my Mini.

I am fixated with individuals and corporations that dodge their dues, either by hiding income, fabricating expenses or entering into elaborate avoidance schemes. Each rand concealed by these scroungers increases the burden on the obedient.

Besides, paying my levies makes me a fully paid-up member of the club, affording me the privilege of judging and commenting candidly on how my contributions are being handled by those in charge. And, to be blunt, I am not happy.

Last Friday the rand collapsed, plunging to R11.37 against the dollar. Admittedly, better-than-expected jobs numbers for November in the US had boosted the greenback against the euro and other major crosses, but the chief source of the rand's decline was the deepening fear that the power crisis crippling the country at the moment would prompt major credit rating agencies to put South African debt investors on high alert. We don't need sophisticated computer models to measure the battering the economy is taking from the catastrophe to the second decimal point; virtually every household and enterprise in the country is aware of the chaos load-shedding is causing to communal and business life.

We are mindful that Eskom's problems could have been avoided and that the havoc, putting the country back in the dark ages, is nothing more than the outcome of years of abandoned responsibility, political meddling in the business process and government policies that place the wrong people in crucial management positions.

Eskom is just one state-owned enterprise that has retrogressed under the current administration's stewardship; the SABC, SAA and the Post Office are among others that lean heavily on taxpayer handouts to survive. And when it comes to the liberal use of tax receipts, we can hardly turn a blind eye to the actions of our president.

We enter 2015 in darkness. We continue demanding higher wages for less work, our children can't add, we litter freely, drive like maniacs and steal with impunity.

It's a year since Nelson Mandela's death. A number of commentators, writing on the anniversary of his demise, wished him alive to lead the country out of its present jam. While I have the utmost regard for his statesmanship, my choice would be to evoke the spirit of Winston Churchill.

Churchill rallied his people with speeches and radio broadcasts in the darkest hours of World War 2, refusing to surrender or consider defeat, eventually commanding his country to victory over the axis forces. It's that strength of character we need to switch the lights on again.