In recent times, not only have South Africans had to contend with the everyday problems of potholes, load-shedding and traffic nightmares, we’ve also been hit with the potential return of the Karpowership deal, stepped-up load-shedding, another petrol price increase and political squabbling on local and national level.
To top it all, there’s the added punting of a R1bn advertising bill for a tourism exercise aimed at attracting international visitors. This at a time when we don’t have constant electricity supply, water supply is under threat and not guaranteed to be drinkable, beaches are sporadically closed because of sewage contamination and crime is rampant. Not an ideal place for a holiday.
These are bleak realities unleashing devastating consequences for so many people — not just as physical impracticalities and financial costs, but on our general morale and collective state of mind.
It’s so bad that the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag), after hearing from several experts discussing the economic, safety and psychological effects of load-shedding, has embarked on a research project to gather data on the ways load-shedding is affecting mental wellbeing (take part in the survey here).
President Cyril Ramaphosa has indicated that a declaration of a state of disaster, pertaining to the load-shedding crisis, is on the cards.
Last week scientist and strategic adviser Anthony Turton described the punting of the Karpowership deal as “a self-created crisis that will amount to national suicide” if it went ahead.
The reality in South Africa, he said, as seen and experienced during Covid-19 times, was that a crisis presented a situation in which proper procedures are done away with and protocols are ditched to enable speedy progress in an effective bypassing of controls to protect state money.
However, “the bigger the crisis, the bigger the payout” was Turton’s cynical yet realistic take. These words contain a cautionary warning to our government, considering President Cyril Ramaphosa has indicated that a declaration of a state of disaster, pertaining to the load-shedding crisis, is on the cards.
On paper, it makes sense. If done correctly, it could do away with the restrictions of our regulatory environment, opening the door for quick decision-making and fast solutions. In practice, however, this could be opening not the door but the floodgates for another round of ruthless corruption and emptying of state coffers for a greedy few, completely disinterested in saving our economy, now crippled further by blackouts.
The theory around how the state of disaster will translate into speedy resolutions still needs to be shared with the nation. Ramaphosa is expected to use the opening of parliament next week to tell us how he plans to lead from the front.
Hopefully it won’t just be words to placate frustrated South Africans. With all that is going wrong in the country right now, we need hope. Or else we will, indeed, be in the throes of national suicide.
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