LETTER: ANC will use any means to stay in power

During his state of the nation address President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his intention to declare a state of disaster to deal with the crippling power cuts affecting the country. According to the president this would, among other things, allow the government to implement measures to support businesses, exempt critical infrastructure from load-shedding and allow for the removal of red tape hindering energy projects.

This all sounds good, but what does it really mean, and is the declaration of a state of disaster really necessary? After all, most of the issues bedevilling Eskom are the result of the incompetence and/or corruption of the government itself, and have been more than 15 years in the making.

The declaration of a state of disaster confers on government additional powers to resolve a crisis with less bureaucracy, less regulation, less transparency and more money. The relaxation of accountability and governance safeguards presumes an efficient, competent and largely honest state machinery to address the challenges at hand.  This is certainly not the SA I know.

What we have is the very people who are the cause of our country’s problems, shortly before a national election which will test their support, invoking legislation that gives them more power and money with less accountability and transparency.

The ANC, from the president down, is ethically compromised. There is not a good ANC faction and a bad ANC faction. They are all bad — it is just a matter of degree. To lose the general election next year, and thereby the reins of power, is something the ANC simply cannot risk. Many in government would face the prospect of criminal prosecution by authorities they no longer control.

We should therefore expect increased depravity from the ANC as it looks to whatever mechanisms are available to it to ensure it remains in power for the foreseeable future. The casualties of this will include the truth, our civil liberties and the few remaining institutions of state that function properly.

Andrew Cadman
Via email

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