#TwoBits: Elvis has left the building in SA, can he come back?

Elvis has left the building.

Or in this case, Anglo is doing the leaving. For more than 100 years, the Oppenheimer dynasty and Anglo American dominated the South African economy. Anglo was THE blue chip share, as good as gold in your pocket. Now Anglo is heading for merger with Canadian mining company Teck and the new Anglo-Teck home will be in Canada.

The once world-beating gold mines are in retreat as the zama-zamas scrabble below ground for what’s left – just as the tenderpreneurs and izinkabi scrabble above ground to rob the country blind.

Depressing thoughts? Maybe so. I’ve just read Jeff Wicks’ brilliant investigation The Shadow State and am left with a feeling of desperation by the knowledge that corruption, theft, murder and daylight robbery are flourishing in our country.

It’s not only happening in the dusty backstreets of the Cape Flats, it’s everywhere in our state system: In the police, courts, government departments, political parties, right to the very top. And the few who stand up against the criminals are being gunned down with impunity. Accountants, lawyers, policemen, municipal officials – many dead in the last few years.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the state structure has all but collapsed. Our political system is a charade, a puppet show. Who believes anything that comes out of the mouths of the country’s leaders?

The government wants you to believe that we are practicing democracy. It’s a sham. You might want to believe that the ideal of a modern democratic system is to pool the people’s representatives to discuss and find solutions to common problems. A senate of elders. But they do not do that. Instead they spend their time scoring points off each other in an endless “us versus them” squabble.

We don’t really discuss these matters because we’re frustrated by them. I’m willing myself to calm down, think peaceful thoughts. I tell myself it’s no use getting upset about matters over which I have little or no control. Or am I doing any good by expressing thoughts that others might silently share? Read the book for yourself and see how you feel.

Anyhow, back to where I started. A number of big companies are packing in their SA operations: Goodyear, Dunlop and Acelor Mittal, while Richards Bay Minerals is believed to be scaling back. Altogether many thousands of jobs. Where is it going to end? Is there hope for a better future?

The only way we are going to address change is through the ballot box. Next year’s local government elections are looming and becoming more significant by the day. Two years after that is a chance to reshuffle the national pack.

It is an unfortunate truth that, on the whole, elections are decided by very few people. The effort to turn up on voting day is just too much for most. Political experts reckon there are two big motivators for voting: Fear and hate. Hate of the apartheid state is what has motivated the majority of South Africans to vote ANC, but after 31 years those who remember the bad old days are fading out. The party keeps talking about the bad old days to keep motivating young voters, but that is working less and less.

Hope as the opposite of fear is what drives the rest to vote for alternatives that hold out the prospect of a brighter future. They hope that a new government will make bold moves, open up the economy for growth, crack down on corruption and crime and make the country safe for its citizens. Positive growth will create jobs.

Could Elvis find his way back?

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