“The people have spoken,” declared President Cyril Ramaphosa after the announcement of election results. The citizen's message is loud and clear: South Africans deserve proper governance, competent and decisive leadership.
Post elections, coalition set-up is an opportunity for politicians to rise to the occasion and write a better story of SA. In the past years, citizens were subjected to self-serving leaders with mediocrity service being the hallmark of the government. SA can't afford leaders who rush to cut ribbons for newly built toilets and taking pictures in Italian suits.
It's time for citizens to conduct an assessment of the road they travelled and properly measure performance of the previous leaders. Without proper audit of the past 30 years, same disastrous wasted years are bound to be repeated.
Active citizenry is key to holding leadership accountable.
Recently, the outgoing KZN premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube lamented: “We hope that those who will be coming into government will see the value in the work that has been done and will build on that to improve the lives of the people of this province and this country.”
Despite her words, so little has improved in KZN. The glorious city of Durban deteriorated worse in recent years. Its once iconic beaches and amusement parks are now in a sorry state. The victims of floods in recent years are still begging for help. How can we forget Dube-Ncube's 2011 call for investigation into the cause of lightning, this after visiting whose members were by the natural weather phenomenon?
Such a mindset was never fit for purpose from the word go, but due to low bar of selecting leaders, citizens had to soldier on. Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiongo once said: “So when African intellectuals and leadership were busy perfecting their borrowed accents, Europe and the West were busy sharpening their instruments for access to the resources of the continent.”
Unfortunately, this is the story of post-colonial Africa.
Jerry Tsie, Pretoria
READER LETTER | Our country deserve competent, decisive leaders
Image: Chris McGrath
“The people have spoken,” declared President Cyril Ramaphosa after the announcement of election results. The citizen's message is loud and clear: South Africans deserve proper governance, competent and decisive leadership.
Post elections, coalition set-up is an opportunity for politicians to rise to the occasion and write a better story of SA. In the past years, citizens were subjected to self-serving leaders with mediocrity service being the hallmark of the government. SA can't afford leaders who rush to cut ribbons for newly built toilets and taking pictures in Italian suits.
It's time for citizens to conduct an assessment of the road they travelled and properly measure performance of the previous leaders. Without proper audit of the past 30 years, same disastrous wasted years are bound to be repeated.
Active citizenry is key to holding leadership accountable.
Recently, the outgoing KZN premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube lamented: “We hope that those who will be coming into government will see the value in the work that has been done and will build on that to improve the lives of the people of this province and this country.”
Despite her words, so little has improved in KZN. The glorious city of Durban deteriorated worse in recent years. Its once iconic beaches and amusement parks are now in a sorry state. The victims of floods in recent years are still begging for help. How can we forget Dube-Ncube's 2011 call for investigation into the cause of lightning, this after visiting whose members were by the natural weather phenomenon?
Such a mindset was never fit for purpose from the word go, but due to low bar of selecting leaders, citizens had to soldier on. Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiongo once said: “So when African intellectuals and leadership were busy perfecting their borrowed accents, Europe and the West were busy sharpening their instruments for access to the resources of the continent.”
Unfortunately, this is the story of post-colonial Africa.
Jerry Tsie, Pretoria
READER LETTER | ANC-DA coalition will work for the country
READER LETTER | No more chaos after elections trauma please
SOWETAN SAYS | Zuma crosses line with threats
READER LETTER | South Africans showed their power in the elections
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos