DEVOLUTION OF POWER

Dear Sir,

-WE NEED MORE SAY IN POLICY MAKING THAT AFFECTS US SO FUNDAMENTALLY-

Way back in the mists of time, the prophet Samuel said to God ” Your people have asked that you give them a king. It seems they are not happy with me.” God replied “No, it is not you, but me they are rejecting. They have me - they do not need a king.”

When Samuel told the Israelites what God had said, they were not happy, saying “ We want a king who will raise an army that will go before us and fight our battles, as do the armies of other nations.” By this time, God had already historically fought and won many battles for His chosen people.

The Israelites persisted in their request and God relented. Samuel duly anointed Saul the first king of Israel.
Thus began a change in terms of power, authority and accountability. In a sense, the Israelites were attempting to shift loads of issues upwards to the king, who would be accountable to God. They were, and I believe the unfolding story of the Israelites at that time depicts this, weary of worrying about many life issues which, in fact, God had historically taken care of for them, and would continue to take care of for them - all they had to do was accept responsibility and accountability for issues surrounding their existence, and live according to His basic spiritual values.

Fast forward to the present. I arrived home late one evening, turning on the TV just in time to watch the start of a thought-provoking program entitled “Is there a better way to run the world ?”. The program summarised the failures and inadequacies of almost all types of governments the world over.

The background research of those responsible for the program led them to examples in Brazil and in Holland, where communities, in both cases,had disbanded their elected municipal administrations, as they had been totally useless. They instead decided to convene regular /periodic meetings, to which all citizens were invited, at a local venue of suitable size to debate and vote on issues. In both cases, the meetings identified and prioritized the issues facing their communities. In the Brazilian example, it was agreed that the biggest problem being experience (and to which resources should be urgently allocated) was the plight of the near-destitute people who lived in the area of the river nearby. Their rationale was that the human suffering , as well as the health and security risks to the environment as a whole required urgent attention. The level of deprivation amongst these people resulted in a high crime level and proven health risks to the town as a whole. In the case of the community in Holland, the result was very much the same.

In the era of the ‘golden age of democracy’ in, for example, the United Kingdom several hundred years ago, people who stood for parliament were generally people of independent means, i.e. wealthy people, etc. In those days, the offspring of wealthy families were, in turn, allocated to the army, the clergy, the colonial service and politics. The objective was to not so much to earn a living from your endeavors, but to serve the country and its people to the best of your ability.

Insofar as parliamentary elections were concerned, each candidate was elected by his or her local community to represent its interests in parliament (even although such a person was also a member of one of the political parties of the day).

By comparison, in South Africa today, people become members of parliament according to the rules of proportional representation and party lists. Because of this there is a total disconnect between power and accountability at the most basic level, which results in a disconnect all the way up the power structures -
there is just no one to talk to who will really listen when you have a real problem relating to aspects of deliverability /governance at any level or on any scale.

People in charge in our parliamentary and administration structures (ministers and directors general) were allocated their positions on the rules of patronage, which are linked to the level of support they bring, on ongoing basis, to the person above them /who appointed them. To maintain this support requires resources with which to establish and continue patronage at all levels. This corrupt system explains the dismal to disastrous levels of delivery that are dragging, and continue to drag, our country down further. Although the ongoing E-toll saga is a classic example of bad decision-making fuelled by greed, government at the highest levels inability to understand the catastrophic economic consequences for the vast majority of its South Africans (the poor and disadvantaged, as well as the up-and-coming middle class which provides the economic heartbeat of our nation) reveals the extent of the disconnect between power (the government) and accountability to the people, this being the ultimate reality.

I do believe that in our beloved nation today, the wheel is now discernibly turning. Our people, in the overall sense, are beginning to get the message. We must take responsibility back from this useless and dysfunctional lot at the very top. I sense a changing dynamic - many people’s spirits and hearts are being quickened to the sense that it is time for urgent change ! We look upwards for inspiration. Our country has a destiny which I believe is part of God’s greater plan ! I know many of my fellow South Africans forming the rich spectrum our broad rainbow believe as I do - they have told me so !.

Do I know how this dynamic for change will manifest itself ? I will freely admit that I don’t. But I can reaffirm with an open heart that I strongly believe it is on its way.

Time for looking back and being dragged down by negative energy has passed. The time for those who use the past to gain political advantage at the cost of absolutely all our people, and particularly at the cost of the poorest and most afflicted has passed

It is time to go forward, dear and well-beloved country !


Sandy Johnston
Rivonia,
Johannesburg