If You Have Nothing to Lose
The South African government has doggedly pursued policies that centralise control of the economy in the hands of the state. This is the natural trend of all governments. The golden opportunity to enact the State of Disaster and lock down the economy has accelerated the ANC’s National Democratic Revolution.
Here is a list of the failures that have resulted from this agenda:
Eskom
Policing
Public Education
Public Healthcare
South African Airways
South African Post Office
Every other state-owned enterprise
There are many more failures that could be added to this list. The irony is that the more failure there is, public or private enterprise, the more people look to the state for support. The more failure there is, the lower the tax contribution to the fiscus and the less the state can provide support.
The pursuit of this agenda has seen per capita income decline to less than that of 1994. It has seen unemployment rise to levels never seen before in South Africa. 60% unemployment among youth below the age of 25. One can only ask if this is the intention of the policy.
Unemployment coupled with lockdown restrictions has raised the social temperature. The state has shown that it has no empathy for those who have seen their business collapse. The state has no solution to the continuing rise in unemployment and the stagnant economy. The only proposition that the state can offer is more government. More government means less service delivery and more economic decline.
Many citizens have found themselves in a desperate situation. No prospect of income and no one is coming to their rescue. These people have nothing to lose. Being put in jail is an opportunity to get a meal. This is a tinderbox waiting for a spark. It just got sparked. Any excuse will do.
Looting is akin to the fire raging through the brush. It has a life of its own. The fire provides cover for thieving opportunists and the desperate. The products of a failed society. A society that has rewarded politicians and the connected few for looting at the highest level.
The words of the looter forcing an oversized TV into the back seat of his car, “it is my turn now”.
Justin Spencer-Young Twitter @fastforwardjsy