The corrosive corruption in Johannesburg is sad. It is having the consequence of people such as those of Melville – ordinary denizens – going onto the streets after being without water for 23 days. Twenty-three days. I know what it’s like, having lived in Johannesburg, when there is no water, no explanations, and no accountability. And this has been going on for years and years.
I just can’t understand why politicians should steal from a city. Can’t they go into crime elsewhere in other fields? Why pick on a city – the largest in South Africa – and continually work at it as if for its final collapse?
You know the arguments. Those protesting are quickly labelled according to colour, because that is the big lens through which everything is viewed in South Africa. But the truth is simpler and more uncomfortable: whatever your colour, if you are rich, you help others become rich. Wealth creation grows economies. Adam Smith understood that centuries ago. A healthy economy benefits everyone. What we are witnessing instead is the slow suffocation of economic energy under layers of corruption and incompetence.
It is such a sad state of affairs that over the years a toxic mix of social ideology and criminality has ripped at South Africa and held it prisoner for three decades. This is not unique to the country — I was reading this morning about Cuba and the dire situation there with electricity and basic services. But that does not make South Africa’s own failures easier to swallow.
Johannesburg has been a city of opportunity. It has created enormous wealth for immigrants from all over the world and for South Africans migrating from the Eastern Cape, Natal, and the Cape provinces. It has been a magnet for ambition and hard work. Why then must a few who are benefiting big-time rule the roost and drive the city into such chaos?
Yes, water is a national issue. The failure of the state and municipalities to provide reliable water has worsened over the years. But water is not a luxury. It is a basic human right. When citizens are left without water for weeks, that right is being transgressed.
And these same citizens must still pay rates and taxes. They are taxed locally and nationally — often taxed to death — and this is how they are treated in return. A minority of criminals have effectively hijacked the city and are doing what they want, while the majority pay the price.
It will take more than a new mayor to rectify Johannesburg, if it can be rectified at all. Structural decay runs deep.
We must also remember the bizarre economic policies emanating from City Power, where people installing solar panels are penalised because it means lost electricity revenue for the utility. Instead of encouraging resilience and innovation, policy punishes it. That is not how you rebuild a city.
The main point remains this: Melville residents have had to stand up and go into the streets to protest. They are emblematic of one suburb among countless others that go without water — perhaps not always for 23 days, but for long periods, days and more. If you have ever been in that situation, you know how difficult it is to live without water. It strips away dignity. It creates anger. It exposes the fragility of everything we take for granted.
Never lose sight of the bigger picture. The bigger picture here is that a small group of corrupt politicians are destroying a great city piece by piece.
If you don’t believe me, go to Johannesburg. Live there. Drive around. Try run a household or a business. You will see what is happening.
Johannesburg citizens deserve better.
