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A dangerous situation

“DO YOU realise what this whole fuss about Nkandla has meant for the people of Nkandla?” asked the government official.

He was not one of the face-men; he was one of the backroom boys who tend to be more dedicated to their work. In his case, he was plainly passionate about development.

He told me Nkandla had been identified – as far back as the Mbeki regime –as one of the regions in KwaZulu-Natal in most need of upliftment – the sort of upliftment the state really can’t do all by itself.

But since the Nkandla compound had hit the news, no corporate with corporate social investment funds to spare, or country with aid to offer, would consider it: mention Nkandla and they all shied away, he said.

Nkandla has a population of about 115 000, made up of around 22 000 households.

It’s been a bit of a joke on Facebook to circulate the picture of Jacob Zuma’s private home that is foregrounded by a typical village house, but with an unemployment rate of around 44%, few of the people in this village have complete food security, let alone satellite dishes on their roofs and Beemers tucked behind their rondavels.

Last year, we were told that upliftment was headed to Nkandla – a huge shopping mall was going to be built there. I wonder how sustainable that is.

Sure, it will bring jobs in the short term – I imagine about 10% of the male population could find themselves doing a bit of construction work – but how is the mall going to survive with a customer base of 115 000 in the immediate surrounds and maybe twice that within striking distance, of whom only about half are employed?

Or are Zuma’s family expected to relocate their shopping from Sandton and Gateway to Nkandla? Perhaps the hope was that the heli-pad would bring a continuous supply of Guptas to shop till they dropped?

Or maybe the reliance was on the security contingent – after all, guards whose accommodation is as commodious and expensive as the ones in Zumaville must have money to burn, right?

Apparently, if the village had not had the misfortune to be the site of Zuma’s private residence, it would by now be benefiting from some targeted development, the sort of grassroots stuff that enables men and women to fish for a lifetime and pull themselves up by their bootstraps through improved education for their kids, better healthcare and assistance with basic enterprises such as better agricultural methods.

Or so I’m told.

I wonder how many Nkandla residents will vote for Zuma next year? The assumption is that most will, being people who have strong emotional ties to the party of liberation.

But despite beliefs to the contrary, South Africans are not stupid. A recent report on News24 on December 4 2013 noted: “Class inequality has become the greatest impediment to national reconciliation, a barometer survey by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) has found.

"’It [the report] lists six overarching social issues, of which class was most commonly identified as the most divisive (27.9%), with race dropping to fourth place (14.6%)," it said in a statement on Wednesday. […] The survey indicated that in 2013, citizens felt less trusting of national leaders.

"Results showed a 10.8% decrease in citizens’ confidence in national government since 2012. There had been a 13% increase in the proportion of citizens who believed the government did not care about ‘people like them’.”

People like who? Well, people like the residents of Nkandla village, who have been given perhaps the most in-your-face evidence of how class matters in the dear old rainbow nation.

“The survey found that ordinary citizens showed the highest confidence in religious institutions (67%) and the public protector (64.4%), and the lowest confidence in political parties (45.2%) and the police (47.9%).”

At a recent Frontfoot breakfast in Sandton, both political analyst Justice Malala and scenario planner Clem Sunter spoke of the distrust that has developed between business and labour; the ongoing anger about the e-toll saga underlines the mistrust between ordinary citizens and government and its instruments like the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral).

And by the way, dear Sanral, it matters not if the people of Gauteng ultimately buckle under and morosely trek off to buy their e-tags: they remain mistrustful, thanks to their suspicions that their money will in the end be used for less-than-salubrious purposes, and thanks to the way you have handled this project from start to finish.

Should that happen, you will undoubtedly show your usual ill-grace and be triumphalist; but you will have created a population filled with resentment and mistrust.

And all this adds up to a dangerous situation, and not just for the ANC’s prospects in the upcoming election - it is dangerous for us as a nation. How can a country in which so many divisions exist, so many very obvious divisions amply illustrated by blue-lights and mansions and privileges, and so much resentment and rage thrive, prosper and flourish?

We have to do better as an economy, whether we are laissez-faire capitalists or operate under some form of regulation, if we are to avoid a storm of tsunami proportions from those with no hope of ever getting employment. And for that we need tough, principled, visionary leadership.

As Pink Floyd once sang: “Is there anybody out there?” Sigh.

 - Fin24

*Mandi Smallhorne is a versatile journalist and editor. Views expressed are her own.

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