Johannesburg – On Tuesday, August 10, the former president of our republic, Jacob Zuma, was having his matter relating to alleged corruption heard in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
Of course, he could not attend in person as he was reported to be ill in a military hospital.
Then the following day, the 11th, there were three legal appearances of people related to alleged shenanigans in the public sector.
One Thabiso Mokwena appeared in the Mafikeng magistrate’s court on allegations of corruptly depositing municipal funds in the collapsed VBS Mutual Bank.
He is alleged to have received gratification for his crooked actions.
On the same day, Ace Magashule, the suspended secretary-general of the governing party, appeared together with his co-accused in the Bloemfontein High Court in connection with a slew of corruption charges.
The accusations relate to his tenure as premier of the Free State where millions of rand appropriated for the removal of asbestos roofs on poor people’s houses in that province were stolen.
Again on the 11th, the president of our republic, Matamela Ramaphosa, was appearing before the Zondo Commission to answer questions on commissions and omissions by the state in the face of state capture and related lootings of public resources.
The media had a merry time hopping from one hearing to the other.
Ramaphosa was to continue his testimony the following day, the 12th.
As citizens, we are almost punch drunk with this torrent of incidents of wrongdoing by our public representatives, public servants and state enterprises functionaries.
We have been bombarded with so much information on sleaze and thievery that we have lost count of who said what and when.
We have also lost track of how many billions or millions of our money has been stolen by those in public office.
Frankly, we are fatigued.
There is no longer excited anticipation of the appearances or testimonies of many of the witnesses.
It all feels like old hat.
Our senses of shock and outrage have been deadened by the sheer volume of skulduggery.
To make matters worse, we have not seen people getting convicted and wearing those yellow jumpsuits fast enough. The real problem we face going forward is having a citizenry that is inured to wrongdoing or is enormously distrustful of public representatives and public servants.
With time, such a disenchanted citizenry switches off from participation in democratic processes, including voting. In fact, informed observers of our democratic elections have been telling us that the numbers of our people registering and voting in elections have been declining since the advent of democracy.
The pandemic of corruption and looting might just accelerate the disenchantment of our citizens.
We have seen in countries where such a phenomenon took root how the citizens resort to undemocratic and violent ways to express themselves. In some cases, that has led to failed states, such as Somalia.
In others it has led to other manifestations of social disorder. It seems we have to work very hard to maintain our outrage against the perpetrators of malfeasance in public life.
We should root them out and replace them with people who are ethical, competent and respectful of public resources. It has been said that the price of liberty is perpetual and eternal vigilance. If our democracy is to endure, our outrage against sleaze must also last.
A country where citizens adopt a don’t-care att itude towards public aff airs is a doomed one.
Hopefully, what we are going through presently will soon pass and we will be able to give future generations a country worth living in.
Click here to read more political analysis from this week’s newspaper.
Also read:
Mamkhize has bought Bloemfontein Celtic
Cyril Ramaphosa: “Outsourcing weakens the state”
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