“Who is running this country?”

“I feel I live in a country where there are no consequences – a place of impurity.”

These were the sobering words that one of SA’s most respected political commentators and newspaper columnists, Justice Malala, began his talk with at the SMD Exotics showroom last week.

Speaking as a guest of Old Mutual Private Clients Securities, Malala said he foresees another “traumatic event” over the next six months.

“People like me have underestimated the president’s appetite for a fight. He gets away with what he does. He controls the National Executive Committee, so he will stay.

“I believe the scenario unfolding right now is hugely challenging and with the president essentially in the pocket of one family, you have to ask yourself who is running this country?”

While everyone is worried, he said the trick is to worry properly.

“Do not listen to the noise of politics. What really matters are institutions – if they do not work, nothing will happen, so worry about them and ask yourself if they protect you.”

The “house” as Malala called it, is one of those issues where the institution failed.

“No one stopped what was happening or said anything when Nkandla was being approved. What is happening with the institution?”

He said the other major issues of concern are land, the structure of wealth in our society and the creation of an enemy.

“If this inner enemy of “them and us” and the white monopoly capital idea continues to build, we have a serious problem.

“The SA Council of Churches already came to the conclusion that SA is on the verge of becoming a mafia state.”

Despite all the problems, Malala said the silver lining to this grim time is that we still have a choice and a voice.

“I have always taken it for granted that the ANC will run Johannesburg, but after seeing the DA run it for the past nine months, I see potholes being fixed.

“The 2019 election will show a big change if the ANC stays together. They will lose Gauteng.

“I believe the ANC will lose the 2024 election, as history shows that liberation parties across the world generally implode after 30 years max.

“Save SA showed that we still have a voice – as long as we can still speak, judges can say no and columnists can write, we still have hope.”

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