It strikes me as immensely cruel that it had to take the deaths of many children in different parts of the country over a long time before our president thought it necessary to finally say something to reassure us that the government is on top of the poisoning pandemic that has shocked the nation.
You would think that after the crushing election results of May 29, the country's leaders would have worked out that South Africans are sick and tired of the inaction, silence and absence of leadership that prevails when the country is faced with issues affecting their very lives. And more so if you are the ANC president who presided over the worst performance by his party and the biggest loss of political power since the dawn of democracy in SA.
Parents of schoolgoing children have feared for the lives of their young ones as poisoning incidents left at least 10 dead and dozens hospitalised after they ate food bought at tuck-shops, spaza shops and street outlets near their schools, yet there has been no word from the captain of this ship called South Africa. It’s almost as if he is content with the country running itself and leaving him able to travel and do whatever he does without being bothered by the everyday life experiences of citizens.
In December 2007, former president Thabo Mbeki learnt the hard way that if you ignore the masses and the bread and butter issues affecting communities, you will be punished.
It’s almost as if these matters are not important to the president. This begs the question, why would the deaths of citizens not be a matter of urgent concern to a sitting president?
In ANC branches around the country, Mbeki was seen as aloof, inaccessible, overly technocratic and somewhat absent from the everyday lives of ordinary South Africans. Many pointed to the slow response to the hundreds of thousands of deaths in the Aids pandemic which was ravaging the country. People were dying in their thousands while the Mbeki administration was debating the merits and technicalities of reports on HIV/Aids and refused to roll out ARVs long after most of the world had conclusively established that they were life savers.
It all culminated in Mbeki being unceremoniously booted out in Polokwane and the ascension of Jacob Zuma. The people were tired of feeling ignored and disconnected from the ANC leadership. This resulted in a catastrophic split in the ANC and the ruling party has never been the same since.
Fast forward to May 2024 when the ANC shockingly had to enter into a coalition (GNU) with its political arch-rivals because the people rejected the leadership of Cyril Ramaphosa. Having managed that loss and retained the Presidency and most cabinet positions, the ANC kept its leadership pretty much intact.
But now, just months since those elections and outcomes, we have an absent president yet again.
This is the same president who claimed to not know anything about his son’s dealings with the tainted and corrupt Bosasa. The same one who gets shocked when matters of horrendous graft in his government are exposed. The same president who promises houses, jobs and a growing economy but never delivers on anything he promises because, quite frankly, he is just too far removed from the ordinary South African. He is too busy appeasing whomever he is appeasing — but one thing is certain, the first citizen is less interested in those who should be his priority: the people.
An article in The Guardian in December 2007 asserted that Mbeki was always destined to be president and opined that perhaps his leadership style, which in the end was the cause of his demise, was informed by the notion of “destined to be”. A bad assumption and a sad mistake, we came to learn.
Back when Ramaphosa was secretary-general of the ANC and subsequently resigned from politics before returning during the Zuma administration, there was speculation that he was disgruntled that Mbeki was chosen ahead of him to succeed Nelson Mandela.
EFF leader Julius Malema has mentioned in press briefings that it is known (in political circles) that Ramaphosa always coveted the presidency and saw it as his right and destiny. Whether or not these allegations and assumptions have merit, they are still the perception of the people — and in politics, perception is everything. Only in this case, it seems the president could care less about how he is perceived.
On social media, one can sense the frustration of South Africans towards their absent president. It was on Wednesday that the minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshabeni, announced that Ramaphosa would address the nation on the food poisoning saga. No date or time was given.
It’s almost as if these matters are not important to the president. This begs the question, why would the deaths of citizens not be a matter of urgent concern to a sitting president?
I suppose in the end he can afford to “ghost” us, as the cool kids would say. He can afford to deprioritise citizens because, after all, this is exactly what his administration has been doing, resulting in many problems left unresolved in the country with little to no accountability or action.
But while the government of Cyril remains inept, we the citizens do nothing about it. We are not active enough as citizens and simply accept a substandard way of life.
If we start taking ourselves seriously as a people and stop smiling and clapping for politicians who promise us clean water but deliver nothing, who promise us a better life but are silent when our children die painful deaths and our murder rate can be compared only with those of active war zones, perhaps our president will stop being aloof, absent and unavailable on matters that greatly concern us.
Perhaps then we can start holding the government accountable.
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