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Who is 'the government'?

Last night, I had the fortune to watch 3rd Degree hosted by Debora Patta. In this episode, she spoke out against racism and the government.

While I normally steer clear of all political commentary, her comments in the report really made me think. The report begged the question: who exactly is the government?

The Merriam Webster defines it as “the act or process of governing; specifically: authoritative direction or control”.

The Oxford Dictionary defines government as “the group of people who are responsible for controlling a country or a State”.

While referencing Mantashe’s comments on the recent Jimmy Manyi debacle, Debora, said something along the lines of "government did not condemn those racial remarks". Her comment is loosely quoted here, but still Mantashe was speaking in his capacity as the ANC spokesperson, not government.

While the whole show was largely about racial commentary from the ANC, she alludes to the ANC as being the custodians of government. Perhaps she is echoing the sentiments of many South Africans, or perhaps the “3rd Degree” style of investigative journalism is a farce.

To my knowledge, in a democracy, government constitutes the people in a State. And no, Gwede Mantashe's statements are not the sentiments of all South Africans - as the continued debate has proven.

I noted with amusement, that the only person Debora found to comment was Steve Hofmeyr, who in his interview said "if I can forgive Mandela, I can forgive Terreblanche". He also maintains racism is the duty of government to resolve, and again government is loosely referred to as the ANC. Hofmeyr also maintains all the blacks are responsible for the crime and all the white votes led to our democracy.

The notion of a country being in the hands of an elected few continues to rise above all other things in conversations about the state South Africa is in.

So to balance the show Debora interviewed a few political analysts, whom in their right were clear what the role of government is and who they are. I found the show ridiculous, at best. It is also evident that this kind of media creates misconceptions that political parties have the final say on what happens in a country and how it is governed.

Have we, as South Africans, relegated the duty of governing our country to politicians? Is the word government, in some way, related to political parties?

Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyNews24 have been independently written by members of News24's community. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
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