Candles were held and cellphone lights were switched on at the picket outside the Gupta compound in Saxonwold. Picture: Karen Sandison/African News Agency (ANA) Candles were held and cellphone lights were switched on at the picket outside the Gupta compound in Saxonwold. Picture: Karen Sandison/African News Agency (ANA)
It is very hard to stop myself from becoming like Archie Bunker, that lovable bigot in the ’70 TV comedy series.
The newspapers and television are awash with tales of disaster, bail-outs, pending lawsuits and all the detritus that accompanies a country in crisis. We even gave air-time to a child rapist who claims he didn’t know what he was doing yet could publicly apologise to his family first, and to the victim as a footnote.
But I remember the words of Mother Theresa: Do not rail against the dark; light a candle.
And that is so ironic, because, other than the shameful revelations about state capture, our main woes emanate from our forced use of candles.
One could hardly call the news shocking, or electrifying. For, in order to do that, one would need current. And current is precisely what we ain't got.
A word to the president and the staff of Eskom (the staff who don’t know about service delivery, yet take home bloated salaries). Stop explaining what is wrong. We know about low-grade coal and broken conveyer belts and outdated equipment and under-planning for the future. Leave us to deal with darkness as we dealt with near-drought, and apartheid, and a toothless government for 25 years.
Ask the following questions. Does a true democracy represent all the inhabitants in the country? Is it healthy to have an opposition party in place? Do both these instances function on money that we provide as taxpayers?
If the answer is "yes" to the above, stop the senseless and expensive parade of chest-beating in the commissions, walk-abouts and empty dreams of well-fed parliamentarians who live a life of luxury at our expense. Provide us access to the true facts. Why are the SOEs in such dire straits. Mismanagement and theft, right? Then sack them. Start proceedings on available evidence to recover the stolen money plus the outstanding debt.
Trim the fat off salaries, bonuses, company cars, housing subsidies and other perks such as travelling allowances. These people are being paid for not working. Surely that is the song we should be singing?
I concede that newspapers survive on news-worthiness, and the television relies on licence-paying viewers. But recycling is reaching saturation point. Our shows are watery versions of more muscular fare from overseas. We are short on original material. The Arts are neglected or under-funded. Education is not only in cognitive crises, but the schools that are replacing the previous prefabs look like sweet- or ice-cream factories.
Last, the DA must decide what its agenda is. Is it still driven by retro-attitudes based on liberal paternalism? Can it reinvent itself as a home for the millions of ANC voters who are decamping?
Remember, you only reap what you sow. Let’s sow some love.
* Literally Yours is a weekly column from Cape Argus reader Alex Tabisher. He can be contacted on email by actabisher@gmail.com
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Newspapers.