The recent case of Boris Johnson having to resign from his position as a MP in the UK highlights we are not alone in SA when it comes to political scandal.
Inexplicably, while serving as the British prime minister during the Covid-19 pandemic, Johnson was found to have hosted a party for his colleagues while the very people who had voted for him (as well as those who had not) were instructed to remain housebound and in government-enforced quarantine.
Of course, it is nothing new for politicians to abuse their power and privilege like this once in office.
It is something we are all too aware of here at the southern tip of Africa.
What is different in Britain, nevertheless, is that the likes of Johnson, however untouchable he may consider himself to be, are ultimately held accountable by the electorate.
This is precisely something that needs to happen here in SA if we are to progress from the poor service delivery and political quagmire created by an ANC government that has got used to “getting away with things” for far too long.
But are things about to change? According to the party’s internal survey, the ANC has just over 12 months to regain the confidence of voters or it will face some highly damaging results in 2024’s general election.
The 111-year-old party that was originally created to oppose an undemocratically elected government, now faces its own reality check in a democratic society: That once in power you have to deliver or answer to the people.
The fact that the penny may have finally dropped is progress in itself. ANC NEC member and newly appointed sports, arts and culture minister Zizi Kodwa delivered the sobering message recently to ANC members in eThekwini, who had gathered for the party’s regional general council.
Kodwa was deployed as a NEC member to address the delegates.
He said the ANC was on the edge of a cliff and it would take members working together to pull it back.
For economist Francois Stofberg though, the ANC has already reached the point of no return: “The government must fundamentally change” he stated in a recent Moneyweb article.
“Our current ruling party has been in power for too long. We have become too bureaucratic, too slow, and too fixed in our ways.
“We need a new growth mindset but, most importantly, we need accountable action. We need strong leadership and moral individuals in government.”
The lack of accountability in our politics affects each and every one of us.
Locally, we have recently seen the removal of Retief Odendaal as mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay.
Regardless of one’s political party affiliations, few fair-minded people would disagree that he created an air of hope and positivity around the Bay and that things, it seemed, were finally getting fixed.
The recent changes in the mayoral office, backed by the ANC/EFF, has left us again with [a sense of] instability and uncertainty over the future of our beloved city.
Councillor Gary van Niekerk, from the Northern Alliance party, has become the third mayor of the Eastern Cape metro since the 2021 local government elections.
With him arrives ANC councillor and former mayor Eugene Johnson as the new speaker.
One hopes, for our sakes, that both will take note of the fate of the UK’s Johnson and acknowledge they are here to serve us, the electorate, and not the other way around.
Only time will tell. But given past indications, we should not be filled with too much hope.
Dr Dean Allen is a best-selling author and keynote speaker