Bred by the ANC quota ethos, the construction mafia is moving in on green energy
09 November 2021 - 15:49
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Green energy is coming. Mines are installing solar panels to generate power. The rich nations are lending us money and supporting this move to decarbonise. This must be good news.
But there is a dark cloud above this sunny scene. The entitlement ethos of the ANC, manifested in it awarding jobs and tenders to cadres, has created a rotten foundation. The construction mafia is now moving in on green energy, demanding contracts or straight protection money.
The mines are not free to award tenders to the best supplier. This is squarely due to the quota entitlement edifice the ANC has built during its 25 years of misrule. The entitlement monster is escaping from the public sector, where it has just about destroyed state organisations. It is now outside government control and extorting tenders and contracts from the private sector.
The cadres have mutated into scavengers feasting on the cadavers of honest enterprise. The only hope for SA is to abandon quotas and replace them with competitive processes throughout society. For this to happen the ANC must do a revolutionary U-turn. This is the revolution SA really needs.
Willem Cronje Cape Town
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Send your letter by email to letters@businesslive.co.za. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Entitlement monster is on the loose
Bred by the ANC quota ethos, the construction mafia is moving in on green energy
Green energy is coming. Mines are installing solar panels to generate power. The rich nations are lending us money and supporting this move to decarbonise. This must be good news.
But there is a dark cloud above this sunny scene. The entitlement ethos of the ANC, manifested in it awarding jobs and tenders to cadres, has created a rotten foundation. The construction mafia is now moving in on green energy, demanding contracts or straight protection money.
The mines are not free to award tenders to the best supplier. This is squarely due to the quota entitlement edifice the ANC has built during its 25 years of misrule. The entitlement monster is escaping from the public sector, where it has just about destroyed state organisations. It is now outside government control and extorting tenders and contracts from the private sector.
The cadres have mutated into scavengers feasting on the cadavers of honest enterprise. The only hope for SA is to abandon quotas and replace them with competitive processes throughout society. For this to happen the ANC must do a revolutionary U-turn. This is the revolution SA really needs.
Willem Cronje
Cape Town
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Send your letter by email to letters@businesslive.co.za. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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