Rudi Kimmie
“It is what it is!” has become a mantra of despair; a recurring refrain from South Africans overwhelmed by corruption, incompetency and mediocrity endemic in our country.
And as we lament in darkness from Eskom power failures, this might be a good time to take stock of how to respond to the many crises we face daily. Some of us will poke fun at the service delivery failures, lampoon the politicians, laugh at the bumbling bureaucracy, and stoically shrug off the rampant criminality, hoping it will never happen to us. Living the daily grind of what has become the reality in South Africa might provide feedstock to our stand-up comics, but it also steadily erodes our souls.
Making light of our challenges provides a safety valve for stress release, but ultimately the critical question is: “Is what is happening in our country really funny?” Has the humour not turned into pathos and have the jokes about what happens in South Africa not become “South Africa is the joke”? The cynical laughter we often hear about our failures is an alarm we need to heed because when the joke becomes a nightmare, more investors will turn their backs on this country, capital flight will increase and taxpayers in increasing numbers will look for safer havens in which to deploy their skills and money.
A risk assessment by Eunomix Business and Economics Ltd gave South Africa until 2030 to reach significant economic decline and ultimately rank the same as Bangladesh. Contributing factors to a failing, or “fragile state” according to US-based Fund for Peace identify a set of combined social, economic and political indicators. These include such metrics as: mounting demographic pressures, sharp and/or severe economic decline and progressive deterioration of public services. That South Africa falls within this category is beyond doubt.
Therefore “It is what it is” must not be how it should be. Too many people sacrificed greatly and there is too much at stake for the gains of democracy to be flushed away. Resigning ourselves to the status quo absolves officials of accountability and fosters the shenanigans we became aware of through the Zondo Commission, where state capture and corruption were laid bare to the public.
Our “failing state” status has unfortunately been self-engineered. We were mesmerised by Madiba’s aura, and the “democracy dividend” obscured the practical steps needed to build a capable state. So the collapsing state-owned enterprises and decaying infrastructure directly stem from the lack of skills and capital investment since 1994. We cannot make the same mistake again if we wish to live sustainably into the next decade.
So where to from here? Addressing our problems starts with an active citizenry; citizens who commit to actively participate in nation building and who understand that change comes through the totality of how each of us lives our lives – how we relate to each other; doing random acts of kindness; calling out criminality; reducing our carbon footprint; doing something constructive. Every constructive action is relevant and every person can make a difference.
A denialist mentality or the blame game will not make the challenges go away. Fixing the systemic brokenness of this country requires proactive action, collaboration and resilience. These can be distilled into four overarching paradigm shifts:
● Taking collective responsibility: social transformation does not start from the top, but from ordinary citizens. Therefore, the current state of decay in the country is a call to every South African to respond and to “be the change you want to see in the world” (Mahatma Gandhi). South Africa’s legacy of ineffective, poor leadership means we cannot depend on the government to find solutions to the intractable problems facing the country. This requires collective responses where every citizen contributes towards the collective good. Civil society, business and the educational sector should pool resources to come up with solutions;
● Ethical surety: corruption and crime are choking South Africa’s growth prospects. No days go by without new corruption being uncovered or crime being committed. Tardy policing and prosecution have enabled criminal syndicates to flourish in this vacuum with criminality becoming institutionalised to the long-term detriment of the country.
● Meritocracy matters: appointing inexperienced and incompetent officials because of political affiliation and race has blunted our service delivery. Twenty-eight years into our democracy and with the severe problems facing our nation, merit should now be the sole criterion in appointments. This is what has turned nation-state Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew into such a sustainable economic powerhouse.
● Kaizen (small, incremental change): Japanese companies have become renowned for constant innovation. Similarly, South Africa's daunting challenges will not be solved in the short term, but should be tackled incrementally and decisively. Every small, constructive action when done regularly and scaled up through mass participation becomes exponential.
The quagmire South Africa finds itself in has caused many to become disillusioned and leave for foreign shores. But human history has shown that even in the most dire circumstances humans, through their adaptability and tenacity, have prevailed, often against overwhelming odds.
“Hope springs eternal” (poet Alexander Pope’s “Essay on Man”) shows that “hope” is an essential human quality. It’s what kept psychiatrist and author Viktor Frankl, alive in the Nazi death camps during World War II, what inspired Nelson Mandela on Robben Island, and is what sustains many of us living in this dystopian land, South Africa. But it’s when hope is combined with action, that is when the magic starts to happen.
The time to start is now. In the words of the late Theodore Roosevelt: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
- Kimmie (PhD) is an UKZN alumnus and currently the CEO at Tsiba Business School. He writes in his personal capacity.
The Independent on Saturday