How President Ramaphosa failed his country

President Ramaphosa’s recent rant about the state of Johannesburg is a bizarre indicator of how shallow South Africa’s politicians have become about what constitutes a competent government. 

The President is again expressing shock and horror at what the country’s 60 million other residents have known for decades. He talks about the state of Johannesburg as if he’s a foreign dignitary visiting South Africa for the first time. How often has he been chauffeured to Luthuli House in the heart of Johannesburg over the last 30 years? Does he not see the progressive collapse of the city? Is he too busy on his iPad that he doesn't have time to look up to see the state of collapse? Has he driven past Alexandra recently and forgotten the promises made to the community in 2019? 

Seventy-seven people died in the 80 Albert Street building fire eighteen months ago. Lilian Ngoyi Street is still a horrible mess twenty months after the explosion that destroyed it. The Johannesburg City Library has been screaming out for intervention for decades. People and property mean nothing to our elitist politicians unless it's their own. A quick shocked acknowledgement of a tragedy and our busy ministers are off to another important meeting. That the President is so unaware of the state of the financial capital of his country speaks volumes about his leadership competence. Everything points to the active dismissiveness with which politicians navigate the landscape entrusted to them. 

We should be a far angrier people. We should be furious that we have this degree of heartless leadership at the helm of our country. We should be banging on the gates of their secure and cosy compounds, demanding they see what we see. Does the President not see the fires across the CBD at night? Does the water and electricity outages or the dreadful SASSA queues filled with sick, old and desperate people, or the tented shacks across the CBD not register with him? What country does he think he is leading? 

Any minister, premier or mayor in South Africa who still expresses shock at the lived realities of South Africans, at the violence, incompetence and decay we live with, should be voted out of office. How can we have politicians who, despite witnessing the hourly collapse of infrastructure and its accompanying extreme human suffering, do nothing about it but be shocked each time?  

South Africans have been betrayed by politicians we thought would provide us with a well-functioning government and a proud democracy. Our prosperity as black and white, Zulu and Afrikaner, Xhosa and Coloured, English and Indian and all other hues that make up our South Africa, can no longer be entrusted to a president and a party that are constantly “shocked” at our country's collapse. We should print 60 million T-shirts with the words “How can they not know?” and wear them every Friday until the next election. At the 2023 Albert Street fire, after his rush back from the Eastern Cape to give a sound bite at the scene, he said "We are not here to blame anyone.” No, Mr. President, you’re wrong. We blame you, Mr President, Premier Lesufi and the circus of mayors for the collapse of Johannesburg. Your collective incompetence produced a collapsed Johannesburg.  

Anyone with some understanding of our government's ability to provide critical infrastructure and general maintenance services will know that it will take South Africa many highly skilled people and significant money to fix our dysfunctional departments and collapsed municipal infrastructure. Our team recently visited the new ghost hospital in De Aar. It took 11 long years to complete its construction. We walked around inside and saw a hospital without any people. Outside, a few people sat around. We did not see any staff. The 11-year project delay resulted in its costs escalating from R290 million to R1.8 billion.

I want my T-shirt. How can they not know? 

*Davids is the Executive Director of Urban Issues Consulting

Cape Argus