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A woman is on her knees. Next to her is a man with his arms stretched out, hands on her head. Their eyes are closed and he is shouting at the top of his voice, as if God can’t hear him over the noise of the passing cars on the highway.
Somewhere not too far away, there is a white enamel bucket in a tree. A tube connected to the bucket leads down to a man who is on his knees. His pants are down and his naked backside faces the blazing sun. Another man inserts the tube into the kneeling man. He then stands up to open the tap on the bucket and a concoction of herbs gushes down into the kneeling man. Once the enema has been fully dispensed, the receiver of this mixture rushes to the toilet to excrete all the bad luck.
The people who peddle remedies to ward off bad luck are folding good money into their pockets these days because times are tough.
People want jobs, and those who’ve got them are afraid of losing them as company after company shuts down, choked by government’s increased taxes and international market storms.
At a town council meeting, a councillor who is a lawyer by profession is confronted by fellow councillors and they say to him: “Ngoba wena ufundile, kungcono uye emafemini, usishiye thina la. [Because you are educated, go find a job at a factory and leave us alone here at the council.]”
Isn’t this a democratic country? Those who want to stand for elections should be allowed to. A retired town council manager told me that some councillors instruct the officials about who should be employed, regardless of their educational qualifications. This has resulted in fat salary bills, but thin service delivery.
Many councillors have become what China’s Mao Tse-tung referred to as “local tyrants” who terrorise communities. They control the municipality’s budget and divert its financial streams into their pockets.
Local tyrants are part of what Mao called the four oppressive forces that cause discontent in a society, and which could ultimately lead to a revolution.
The false prophets who sell superstition and dicey hopes for a profit are another oppressive force, and so are the landlords who extort exorbitant rent.
The Chinese leader also cautioned against patriarchy, which is the fourth force of oppression.
A woman is pulling out of her driveway, criminals point a gun at her and hijack her car. People are getting murdered and their possessions are taken away from them. This might as well be a country overrun by bandits. This state of affairs breeds vigilantism, adding to the chaos in society, as Mao observed.
Our country is going through a terrible patch and things are about to get worse. The dirt that comes with democracy, which is characterised by bitter bickering and cheap political point scoring, will last until after next year’s elections. Many genuine challenges that the country faces will be used for petty politicking, and they will be stretched like chewing gum and blown out of proportion.
Expect the business environment to worsen before it gets better. It’s the deal with the devil. Politicians get to win their seats – that is the sweet side of their bargain – but the country gets to suffer in despair.
The leadership of a country is too important to be left to the politicians alone. Organisations such as Business Leadership SA and the Black Business Council must play a bigger role to help to defeat despair with optimism.
* Muzi Kuzwayo is the founder of Ignitive, an advertising agency.
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