Hold tight for the fightback against sleaze

GEOFF SIFRIN

Taking Issue

This is what motivated callers to Radio 702 on Friday, asking him for his prognosis on the country’s situation and future. Sachs was a guest anchor on the Redi Tlhabi show, taking calls from the public on an open line.

The first few callers talked about the old days rather than politics, relating fond memories of Sachs’ highly politicised Jewish family when he was a child, particularly his Lithuanian-born father Solly Sachs, a communist and leader of the Garment Workers Union in the 1930s, among his other political activities. Albie allowed the nostalgic memories to run a while, then turned the topic towards more serious contemporary matters. Most callers were desperately worried about the state of the country.

With the year 2016 drawing to a close after its torrent of corruption scandals and ugly political brawls, many citizens are heading into Christmas holidays with a sense of foreboding that South Africa has lost its way. So much sleaze at the highest levels has been exposed this year that it will be seen by future historians as a watershed moment in the struggle of the country to become a successful democracy, against the ethos of patronage and corruption of President Jacob Zuma’s cabal which would turn it into a failed state.

The parliamentary inquiry currently underway into the SABC has exposed just how deep the rot goes in this state entity, with tyrannical figures like Hlaudi Motsoeneng running the show on a huge salary, while violating basic principles of a proper media organisation. It is symptomatic of the fiasco in other state entities such as SAA and Eskom. South Africans are justifiably feeling exhausted and furious. 

Listeners to Sachs’ radio programme expected him to share their rage and pessimism, and disappointment at what has happened to the country he fought for and sacrificed so much for. But he struck a different note, hinting at something positive many people are unable to see amidst all the smoke and political noise.

With the characteristic reserve and careful use of words of a jurist, Sachs would not be drawn into bluntly condemning Jacob Zuma and his government, but countered that things were not as pessimistic as the callers were saying. Indeed, he suggested, there were clear signs of a broad-based fightback beginning by the citizens against the country’s decline, demonstrating a healthiness in the political culture. This process was the young South African democracy flexing its muscles and showing its mettle.

It is true that good people who for too long have kept silent about the state of things are now speaking up, including the 101 ANC Struggle stalwarts demanding urgent action within the organisation to rescue it from its ideological and factional malaise. Other bodies such as Save South Africa, the Helen Suzman Foundation and Freedom under Law are campaigning against corruption, cronyism and patronage, sometimes with notable success. They are turning particularly to the courts, which continue to be fiercely independent and resistant to political pressure. Indeed, the judiciary is one of the key remaining bastions of SA democracy.

South Africa has never been an easy country to live in, and it is not clear which side will win in this battle for its soul. Probably for the next decade it will muddle through, with the forces of light sometimes winning, sometimes losing. Tighten your seatbelts for the ride.