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Have we become a society that cannot accept defeat?
We are living in a country where government officials (including members of parliament) cannot accept defeat and apologise – say you are sorry. President Jacob Zuma’s arrogance is rubbing off on government officials (including members of parliament). Every day the media (television, radio, newspapers, social media, etc.) is rocked with allegations regarding state capture, fraud, money laundering, bribery, etc. This has become a norm in our daily lives in South Africa and those involved really do not care as they are The President’s Friends and no one takes any allegations seriously. The alleged perpetrators show no remorse but will publicly defend his / her stance to the end although the investigative evidence is damning and self-explanatory.
Have we become a society that cannot accept defeat?
The media is filled with court judgements, court challenges / appeals, interdicts, etc. Citizens have been flooded with this information – the upside is that the education of the man in the street has elevated greatly and expressly regarding legal jargons and legal processes and the citizens are no longer gullible and they are now more aware of the happenings in the country than ever before. They are now getting wiser and can distinguish between right from wrong. I take off my hat with profound respect to the journalists and media that are responsible for dissecting all the cases / matters of national interest and doing their investigative duty perfectly without fear or favour to anyone, any political party or any institution. That is good and perfect investigative journalism.
Court judgements are regularly appealed, challenged or reviewed. Interdicts are regularly sought from a law court instructing someone that they are not allowed to do something. Once again, most of the appeals, challenges or reviews are dismissed with costs. Most of the interdicts are not granted or discharged. What does this mean? The original court judgements were fair and correct.
South Africa has a very potent constitution and a good legal system and everyone has the right to appeal. Appeals are very complicated and it needs to be determined if it is worth it. They require legal research and also very expensive. You could be looking at thousands – if not millions of rands. So you’ll need to determine if it’s worth your time and money to file an appeal. The benefactors of appeals are lawyers, advocates, etc. as their pockets are getting larger.
Where does the money comes from? How many individual citizens can afford to go through the appeal process – only the rich as the poor cannot afford the exorbitant costs as they can barely make ends meet? Many laws in this country favour the rich and money can persuade people to do as you like and can dictate situations. How often have you heard that an alleged suspect was incorrectly convicted of a crime and was many years later released – conviction was overturned or reversed, or the person was exonerated? One of the reasons amongst the many may be due to inadequate defence as good and reputable defence is very expensive.
Have we become a society that cannot accept defeat?
The President’s Friends
Well if you are government officials, you are in a fortunate situation and you do not have any problems of raising funds for defence. There are no borders to amounts of monies used for the cases that are challenged. YES – TAXPAYERS MONIES. You are not ashamed of using tax payer’s monies to obtain the services of the most reputable and exorbitant legal experts / counsel to defend you in court because you don’t need to pay from your own pockets. We (taxpayers) are paying your salaries and where you stuffed up, we also pay for you to defend your stuff-up. This is absolutely ludicrous. The exorbitant costs paid for defense lawyers and counsel could be used more sparingly and wisely to enhance education, the health services, housing, municipal services, job creation, etc. These are the immediate needs that the government needs to cater for and the results will be more rewarding and noticeable. This will definitely whet the citizen’s appetite and the citizens will feel more appreciated. Citizens that are appreciated and more satisfied create a stronger and solid country.
Everything the President touches or is associated with is linked to some form of corruption, crime or a back-door deal. The media speaks for itself and is self-explanatory. Like a chess game, he has his pawns to do all the laundry and take responsibility, or their governmental positions will be at stake. Every time there is an issue, there is a cabinet reshuffle – not always in the best interest of the country but in the best interest of the President and his friends. You know what I am talking about – Nenegate, etc. The aftermath of the Nenegate has been well documented and the calculated immediate loss to the country was R500 billion. The actual loss turned out to be a lot more as the R500 billion was off equities and bonds. In August 2016, the rand fell to its weakest level against the dollar in three weeks after the Hawks had ordered Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan to report to its offices, raising concern that the treasury chief may be replaced. The rand plunged as much as 2% against the dollar.
The President and friends believe that they are in a safe and comfortable territory and are the untouchables. Not for long. The citizens are frustrated and the courts are also frustrated – recent court judgements confirm this. The Nkandlagate, Guptagate, etc. and all the other gates have no locks and as time elapses, the truth will escape and be exposed.
Have we become a government that cannot accept defeat?
The End is Nigh
(selected statistics and events are courtesy of the internet)
