Written by: Errol Naidoo
Article source: familypolicyinstitute.com
South African voters will go to the polls on 1 November to cast their vote for their local government representatives in the desperate hope that basic service delivery will become a reality. Tragically, the majority of the country’s 278 municipalities are either bankrupt, dysfunctional or both – run into the ground by a corrupt and inept governing party.
Certain municipalities are so badly run that reports emerged of raw sewage flowing into homes, mountains of rotting refuse polluting communities, widening pot-holes, crumbling infrastructure and electricity and water shortages becoming a normal way of life.
ANC cadres are literally killing each other to get onto the candidates lists. ANC councilors are murdered by hired hitmen and drive by shootings reminiscent of Mafia style assassinations.
Political killings in the ANC are nothing new. A 2018 New York Times article entitled, “Hit Men & Power: South Africa’s Leaders Are Killing One Another” declares, “ANC officials are killing one another, hiring professional hit men to eliminate fellow party members in an all-or-nothing fight over money, turf and power, ANC officials say.”
The article goes on to say, “The government’s inaction reflects the ANC’s inability — or unwillingness — to stop the internal warfare because it could expose the extent of corruption and criminality in its ranks, current and former party officials say.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa apologised for the ANC’s corruption and maladministration at the party’s Manifesto Launch in Tshwane. However, he failed to mention how the ANC will rectify its failures other than deploying younger (but not honest and competent) candidates.
ANC treasurer, Paul Mashatile was recorded handing out cash to congregants in a Church hall. He was accused of buying votes but justified it as “paying tithes.” ANC officials have also distributed t-shirts and food-parcels to jobless and neglected citizens impoverished by its disastrous policies. The exploitation of the poor has come to define the governing party.
The questions is, “where does the money come from?” The ANC has reportedly not paid its staff for three months. The party also owes SARS more than R80 million in back taxes.
The once world-renown liberation movement that evolved into a political party has mutated into a criminal network driven by the lure of power, privilege and self-enrichment – attested by the fact that ANC cadres are willing to kill each other to attain lucrative government positions.
I am encouraged to see respected Christian leaders getting behind independent networks and even standing as ward and mayoral candidates. We must provide voters a credible alternative to the corruption, moral decay and incompetence that’s become commonplace.
The Christian Church that played a defining role in defeating apartheid must once again utilise its spiritual and moral authority to defeat the agents of corruption, maladministration and political malfeasance. We must be the “salt and light” in a dark and decaying culture.
Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Believers no longer enjoy the luxury of silence, anonymity and inaction.
Please commit to pray for the Municipal Elections. Pray for God’s mercy and intervention in South Africa. We need change. We must therefore Pray, Vote and Act for change in SA.
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Date published: 05/10/2021
Feature image: adapted from www.pexels.com/Taryn Elliott
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