The abuse of power and encroachment on liberties that politicians have been getting away with for the past two years must have made them think it was a walk in the park forever.
This is the period in which politicians the world over made laws and rules for the people without being questioned in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Presidents and their cabinets were accustomed to locking down countries and opening them up as they pleased in the name of curbing the Covid-19 spread.
In SA, there was a time where people could not buy warm food and clothing items, because, we were told, “science”, or should I say politicians, had decided this was the best defence strategy against the pandemic.
No one dared to question this or the “conspiracy theorist” tag would be used to whip and shame them into silence.
The word of politicians who became overnight scientists was the gospel truth.
Livelihoods and businesses of ordinary people were destroyed, but they were expected to toe the line to save everyone’s life.
Politicians, notorious for evading accountability at the slightest opportunity, marvelled at this free rein.
It was bound to end in tears as people cannot be led like sheep forever, especially when they fail those who elected them into office.
Political authority is under siege across the world, including in SA, and the usual givers are on the receiving end.
They cannot stomach it but have nowhere to hide, except to scapegoat and deflect.
This came into sharp focus in SA this week with the public confrontations of two ministers, Bheki Cele and Pravin Gordhan.
Cele, during a public meeting in Cape Town, was told the bitter truth of the inefficiencies in the portfolio he leads in government, the police.
Political authority is under siege across the world, including in SA, and the usual givers are on the receiving end. They cannot stomach it but have nowhere to hide, except to scapegoat and deflect.
Instead of dealing with the concerns raised by a member of the public, Cele chose to embark on a screaming monologue about his struggle credentials.
Little does he know no one is interested in his struggle credentials or those of his fellow ANC politicians as the country falls apart on their watch.
What matters is whether they perform the jobs for which they were elected. If they do not, they will be held to account by the public.
Gordhan was not to be upstaged by Cele when he was confronted during a lecture at the Wits University School of Governance amid the collapse of state-owned entities (SOEs) under his stewardship.
The country has been plunged into literal darkness by one of the SOEs, Eskom.
But true to form, according to Gordhan everyone questioning him is part of a sponsored fightback by those “who want corruption and state capture to come back”.
Even if this were true, it does not mean Gordhan cannot be held to account as a minister. Few are interested in his fight against state capture when things are falling apart.
Most, if not all the ministers, have probably cancelled events scheduled for coming weeks at which they will possibly come face to face with gatvol members of the public.
Fuel and food prices are spiralling out of control across the globe because of the Russian-Ukraine conflict and the hardline response to it by Nato.
In Kenya, Italy and the Netherlands, people took to the streets this week to protest against political authority.
It is high time for politicians to wake up. The dark days of lying to and using the masses as voting cattle every five-year voting cycle are long gone.
People are concerned about bread and butter issues that are fast becoming privileges rather than basic human rights.
They can save the Robben Island, struggle-credential tales for their grandchildren’s bedtime stories.
