By: Natasha Archary
South Africans have had a few days to process President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address and have weighed in on whether the country is heading further downhill or if things will turn around.
The general consensus is a bleak one for Kaya Drive listeners who believe that the future in SA holds little promise.
Speaking about the few instances when the country’s hopes of regrowth were dangling by a thread, Sizwe Dhlomo reminded listeners about the resilience of the nation.
That said, many felt that endless empty promises made by the ANC government had tested their hope for a brighter SA beyond measure.
Many listeners said they had given up hope that things will change for the better. The president himself admitted that the problems with the country are deep and structural.
Red tape aside, it was the blatant corruption at various levels of ruling party that could no longer be ignored.
Listen to the conversation on Kaya Drive here:
The State Capture report that was handed over to Ramaphosa was a reality check that most listeners were not expecting.
Detailing the devastating effects of mismanagement of funds within SAA, Transnet, Denel, South African Revenue Service and Government Communications, admissions that the state was indeed captured hit a chord with South Africans.
The endless loadshedding issues, steep hikes in fuel and the cost of living have offered taxpayers little in relief over the years.
“SA’s problems are at its peak. The electricity crisis, the cost of fuel, the cost of food, a poor public education system continues to mount. What’s more is the R350 grant that is meant to bring relief to the poor, granted it’s necessary but that R350 is already coming from a country that is so heavily in debt,” shared Sonabele from Pretoria.
Another point Sonabele made was that SA tends to pit itself against other third world countries within Africa and by doing so, the comparisons of issues between us and other parts of Africa look minimal.
By doing so, South Africans are becoming complacent about the state of the nation while other African countries are rising.
Kigali in Rwanda for example has the lowest rate of crime in Africa currently. The country has made huge strides in curbing crime to ensure that international travellers are safer.
Rwanda was named the 6th safest country in Africa for solo travellers, with low levels of crime making the country a popular tourist hotspot.
Crime in South Africa on the other hand is on the increase, with criminals using weapons to execute robberies, hijackings and heists, it paints a contrasting view of how far behind SA really is.
To Sizwe’s point, yes, the nation remains resilient, and after the past two years with little choice but to rebuild what the pandemic undid, the question is whether resilience will be enough?
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