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As I write this, I am deeply saddened, frustrated and, at times, angry about the conduct of those we have entrusted with safeguarding and managing public and private institutions in South Africa.
As a South African citizen, I have watched millions of people struggle while those entrusted with power repeatedly fail to deliver the country we were promised. Every day we hear about corruption, waste, maladministration and the misuse of public resources.
We hear promises of accountability, yet too often nobody accepts responsibility when systems fail. The national government blames provinces. Provinces blame municipalities. Municipalities blame everyone else.
Meanwhile, ordinary South Africans continue paying the price. People go hungry. Young people struggle to find work. Families live without reliable services. Communities wait for housing, health care, education and meaningful economic opportunities. Small businesses close their doors while politically connected individuals continue to find ways to prosper.
This cannot simply be called poor governance any more. It is a crisis of leadership. To those who fought apartheid, sacrificed careers, freedom and even their lives so that South Africans could live in a democratic country: we remember your sacrifices.
But democracy was never supposed to be the destination. It was supposed to be the foundation upon which a better society would be built.
What we lack is not potential. What we lack is sufficient leadership that is prepared to put the public interest before personal and political interests
Somewhere along the way, too many leaders became more concerned with political survival, personal enrichment and protecting networks of influence than with protecting the people who placed their trust in them.
The greatest betrayal is not that South Africa has problems. Every country has problems. The betrayal is that many of these problems are man-made and are entirely within our ability to solve.
We have extraordinary natural resources. We have talented young people. We have entrepreneurs, teachers, nurses, engineers, farmers, artists, scientists and workers who continue to create and contribute despite extraordinary circumstances.
What we lack is not potential. What we lack is sufficient leadership that is prepared to put the public interest before personal and political interests. And this failure does not belong to one political party.
Every political organisation that has participated in government must answer for its record. Opposition parties must also be prepared to demonstrate that they offer more than criticism.
South Africans are tired of political theatre. We need measurable results. We need leaders who can say, “This went wrong, this is why, this is who is responsible, and this is how we are going to fix it.”
We need consequences for corruption. We need transparent procurement. We need municipalities that actually function. We need public money to follow public priorities. We need young South Africans to believe that their future does not depend on knowing the right politician.
Most importantly, we need to stop treating poverty as though it is an unavoidable feature of South African life. It is not. Poverty is also the consequence of political choices, economic structures, corruption, poor administration and the failure to create meaningful opportunities.
South Africans do not need another speech promising a better tomorrow. We need evidence that tomorrow is actually being built
The people are watching. They are watching politicians cross the floor. They are watching tenders being awarded. They are watching infrastructure collapse. They are watching executives and political leaders live comfortably while pensioners, unemployed people and working families struggle to survive. And they are losing faith. That should frighten every leader more than any election result.
A democracy cannot survive on voting alone. It survives when citizens believe that their participation matters, that institutions work and that those who hold power are accountable.
South Africans do not need another speech promising a better tomorrow. We need evidence that tomorrow is actually being built.
So this is my appeal to every political leader, government official and person of influence in South Africa: stop asking what the country can do for you; start asking what your position of power requires you to do for the country.
The time has come to restore accountability. The time has come to restore dignity. The time has come to restore public trust. And the time has come for ordinary South Africans to demand better, not through destruction or violence but through their voices, their votes, their communities, their journalism, their activism and their refusal to accept corruption and incompetence as normal.
We have inherited a democracy that millions fought to create. Our responsibility is to make it work. South Africa does not belong to politicians; it belongs to its people — and the people deserve better.
- Mafoko is a Sowetan reader
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