As I listened to, and then read and reread the 2023 State of the Nation Address – the memories
of all the times my parent’s dropped “the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing”
ran through my mind, as did its biblical origin.
In its biblical sense - “when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right
hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret” (Matthew 6:3-4) – the phrase encourages
humility, that there is no need to draw attention to what good you are doing.
However, my parents would drop this phrase often – typically when complaining about poor
customer service, to illustrate incompetence, or to describe unnecessary obstacles on the path
to a commonly intended outcome.
The President started the State of the Nation Address by saying that we are not defined by our
boundaries. Judging by how difficult it is for people (especially other Africans) to get visas to
come to South Africa – the Department of Home Affairs is clearly unaware of this.
He went on to say that we are not defined by our Minerals and Landscape. Everyone that was
at or around Mining Indaba this week, and all the communities who have been (and continue to
be) removed from their land, knows that the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy have
definitely not been informed.
The President then said we are defined by “hope” and “resilience”. The President has clearly
not consulted with the people he works for - our hope is wearing thin, and we are very tired of
being resilient.
Our President highlighted some of the successes that were achieved over the course of the
year. He also constantly reiterated the fact that apartheid had been defeated, and that the
struggle for freedom was fuelled by hope. (In this case, the President would’ve done well to
listen to the lesson in the Bible.)
Rhetoric aside, the whole story - which cost about R4million to deliver - said nothing new.
Priority areas, bold and decisive action, collaborative effort, apartheid overturned, attract
investment, commitments, promises…
If my levels of hope weren’t so low – I may have been encouraged. But, the consistent failure of
our government to deliver on their commitments leaves me unimpressed.
A classic example of this failure to keep promises is the recent Renewable Energy Independent
Power Producers Programme Bidding Round (Bid Window 6) – where the available project
allocation was 4200 MW and despite over 9000MW being submitted in the bid process, less
than 1000MW was allocated.
In the midst of an energy crisis, our leaders allocated less than 25% of available capacity
despite an oversupply of potential projects.
From an economic standpoint – this caused uncertainty in the market, this uncertainty coupled
with the other challenges South Africa faces, elevates the riskiness of the country. Higher risk
requires higher returns and thus increases the cost of capital. So, all of this investment that we
intend to secure, will also realise in increased flows out of the country as we service that debt at
higher premiums. The “bail-outs” offered to business in the form of loans – will trap these
businesses with the burden of having to service these loans at the high local interest rates.
I can’t help but wonder if our government hopes that the red carpet and their shiny fashion
would distract us from their procrastination, political manoeuvring, bureaucratic nonsense,
manipulation of the judicial system and general inability to act.
To say that failure to act in the past has caused the crisis we now find ourselves in is a complete
understatement.
All this being said, 2 small changes to the speech may have improved it significantly.
Firstly - get rid of the salutation protocol.
The salutation order of dignitaries is a colonial construct that reinforces the subordination of the
people in favour of the privileged. The People are the ultimate dignitary in a democracy – and
observing such archaic protocol has no place here. Our People need to be elevated to where
we truly belong – First Priority.
Secondly - acknowledge your failures, apologise for your mistakes.
All leadership courses teach that authentically reflecting on your failures and taking
accountability for your mistakes are characteristics of great leadership.
South Africans deserve honesty, transparency and an apology. Our tax money has been
squandered, our ability to work has been hindered, basic service provision cannot be relied
upon because of loadshedding, corruption and apathy, our children’s future is uncertain.
Acknowledge. Apologise. And then fix it.
As South Africans it is time for us to Bold and Decisive. We want the best for our country – so
we need to keep ourselves informed, and be vocal about our dissatisfaction and our
recommendations. The social media Universe managed to derail some poor decisions (the Flag
in 2022, and Tottenham Hotspurs in 2023) – we can use our same power and agency to
influence all decision making and (lack of) action in the coming year. Our Time is Now.