Leaders must burst out of their bling bubbles

Which planet do you live on? Every time a politician is shocked about the living ­conditions of the poor majority, alarmed by hospitals where babies die of diseases of simple infection and hygiene, or is angry about our dismal public school pass rates, you have to ask: which ­planet do they live on? Because it’s not Mzansi.

This week it was President Jacob Zuma, the man who came to office because of his grassroots ­connection, who was shack-shocked.

Visiting Sweetwaters settlement this week, the president was moved to tears by the conditions of his fellow citizens who lived, he said, in conditions ill-befitting even animals.

It’s nice that he has empathy, but it’s really sad that he is surprised by the real South Africa. The ANC government pivots on being a people’s party elected into power in four national polls by a substantial ­majority of South Africans.

Social distance has, however, set in between the governors and the governed, as is made evident by the bubble our politicians exist in.

From president to premiers and even local mayors, they all drive in chauffeured cars, live in relative prosperity and are cushioned from reality by flunkies and ­spin-doctors.

All their needs are taken care of with multiple homes, generous salaries, cooks to prepare meals and child-minders – all provided by a set of ­ministerial perks that have remained unchanged since the venal apartheid system’s ministerial ­handbook which is like a guide to living in a bubble.

And so it’s no surprise that the president was shocked. Premiers, too, live like a people apart.

Consider news this week that Gauteng’s Premier Nomvula ­Mokonyane had her brother flown by ­helicopter, at our expense, between hospitals.

Back in Sweetwaters it was clear that the pattern is similar at local government level, the sphere of ­government which is supposed to be located among the people.

There, the councillor named Freedom ­Sotshantsha lives a sunshine life. He drives a bright yellow Hummer and travels with bodyguards.

And his home has security cameras all around it because he fears that the community he represents will ­attack and hurt him.

This story is repeated in local councils around the country where representatives live in fear of the ­people who elected them.

They are at the coalface of a ticking time bomb since one million South Africans lost their jobs in the latest recession, thus putting enormous strain on communities already balanced on a knife’s edge.

Government should emerge from the bubble, get out there and live sans bling among the people.

Optimism shines on Africa

On Africa Day there is a lot to salute and be hopeful about on our continent. If it is all about the ­macro-economy, then there is every reason to be bright-eyed.

Various growth projections suggest that the ­continent will buck the European and American ­double-dip recession to grow at rates of between 3% and 4% this year.

While the Millennium Development Goals – the ­basic set of human decency indicators – show that we have a long way to travel, at least the horizon is one of hope.

With a commodities boom and oil discoveries along both coasts, the continent is predicted by some to be one of the next big global growth nodes like Brazil, India and China.

The wave of democratisation means that much more of the continent is free than in chains, despite there being a lot of human rights work still to do, as the ­conviction of a gay couple in Malawi shows.

To paraphrase the Presidency’s Alan Hirsch: the image of Africa is increasingly of a person, spade in hand, digging out a future while the old symbol of the begging bowl is slowly fading into ­memory.

- City Press