The celebration of a struggle

Interesting Article On News 24 - So we continue to 'Struggle'

06 January 2012, 14:13  

"I live in Bloemfontein and as most people know by now our city is hosting the celebrations of the ANC centenary.  Some positives of this celebration is the fixing of potholes in the streets (at last), the replacement of worn out South African flags at the city entrances and the re-painting of faded road signs on the road.

But most of all one notices the hundreds of banners and posters on every lamppost just to make sure everyone knows that the ANC is 100 years old.  One of these posters that caught my eye was the one that says:   Celebrating 100 years of selfless struggle.

This made me realize that that is exactly the problem with the ANC.  It has been struggling for 100 years.  At first the struggle was against apartheid, but since 1994 they are struggling to govern.  They struggle to find honest leaders.  Many senior ANC officials have been or are currently being prosecuted.  They even struggle to find an honest chief of police, failing twice!  They struggle to improve education.

Even though they are spending a larger percentage of the budget on education than most countries, education in the so-called township schools went from bad to worst and South Africa is now worse off than in the latter years of apartheid.  They struggle to provide proper health care.  Hospitals that were once some of the best in Africa (and even the world) are now mismanaged and in a disastrous condition.

Perhaps where they are struggling the most is Local Government and service delivery.  Towns that were once beautiful, clean, well run municipalities are now in a terrible state with most sewerage treatment plants discharging raw sewerage into what were once pristine rivers. Corruption, self-interest and greed have unfortunately ensured that the struggle continued since 1994.

I sincerely hope that the 100th year of struggle is the last one.  I hope that President Zuma will announce that 2012 will now be the first year of achievement and striving for excellence!  Let's all hope that the ANC will now put skill, knowledge, experience and innovation on the top of their requirements list when new leaders are chosen.  Please stop struggling and start performing!"

Till next time...