When the mother bird sees imminent danger, she doesn’t warn her children verbally. She takes action by flying away and her children follow suit. They say actions speak louder than words.
When celebrities like Ngizwe Mchunu stand in public spaces and utter words that could incite violence, their actions might influence young people who look up to them as role models. Recently, mostly young people were arrested for looting and damaging properties in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
My advice is: you cannot solve problems by causing problems. We cry about job scarcity, but we destroy businesses that create jobs for us. We cry about untarred roads, but we destroy existing tar roads. We cry about a shortage of schools, but we torch existing schools.
Part of this problem is created by our so-called honourable leaders and celebrities. I acknowledge that former president Jacob Zuma fought in the Struggle to liberate our country. But one’s fame shouldn’t fuel fury in volatile situations. Words coming out of our mouths have a potential to build or burn the whole nation.
Why burn the whole house just because you want to get rid of the rat? According to my understanding of the judiciary system, when one is summoned to appear before a court or commission of inquiry, one must just co-operate.
The biggest mistake Zuma committed was when he flatly refused to appear before the Zondo commission chaired by deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo. Hence the commission had no option but to issue a warrant for his arrest.
I fail to understand why Msholozi opted to sit in a cold cell instead of just availing himself. Part of the reason was he wanted Zondo to recuse himself.
In his Covid-19 speech, President Cyril Ramaphosa promised to freely give cash to citizens like Father Christmas. But it doesn’t make sense to give people money and not create jobs for them to work for it. In other words, the president conceded that his ruling party is failing to create jobs for the legion of young people who roam the streets and drown their worries in drugs and alcohol.
Now there is a high rate of teenage pregnancy stimulated by the child grants received. However, the same government encourages young girls to stop manufacturing babies and take care of their education. This is a laughable scenario.
As citizens in a democratic society, we need to hold our government accountable for every decision that misleads and derails our economy.
The truth is that since the inception of tenders, job advertisements in the government sector were dealt a big blow. Even if it advertises posts, they’re advertised with name tags of potential employees.
We’re encouraged by the government to start small businesses, but such small businesses are catered for by the foreign nationals.
Here is my million-dollar question to the president: how many South Africans own spaza shops today? Most spaza shops are in the hands of Ethiopian, Pakistani and Somali nationals.
The truth shall liberate us, but pretence shall enslave us in our own country. I would like to suggest that foreign nationals own 20% of spaza shops and SA citizens own 80%. By permitting foreign nationals to take the lion's share of our business, we don’t do justice to ourselves as the citizens of Mzansi.
Our country seems to be led by half-blind leaders who only see inside the palm of their hands. Great leadership doesn’t mean running away from the reality. Sometimes the hard truths might demoralise government leaders but at other times sharing difficulties can inspire people to take action that will make the situation better.
God didn’t put us in this rich land to be poor, it is bad leadership that makes us poor.
• Tebeila is a Sowetan reader
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