“Mr President, Our Prayer to You”
Open Letter to the President,
July 3 2021
Dear Mr President,
Like most of the nation who have a roof above their heads, I was glued to your address last Sunday where you expressed more stringent lockdown measures in the face of an escalating third wave.
As you pleaded with the nation to adhere more closely to the level 4 restrictions, I felt a rising sense of rage.
I asked myself why I felt such anger as I listened. And the answer was clear.
What moral right do you have, Mr President, to beseech us, the people of South Africa to do better, while you and your government have forced the economy and the living conditions of your people to a level that would be unimaginable to our founding father Nelson Mandela, whose very words you quoted in your address.
The list of disasters under your helm and under your party is endless, but in summary:
-The vaccine procurement and rollout has been utterly compromised by public distribution that is riddled with inefficiency and delays. There are numerous media stories that govt officials were SELLING food parcels donated by international agencies. And Mr President you are praying that we the people, do better?
-Under the helm of the current ANC Government, the price of electricity has risen 5-fold in 5 years. Your people are, literally, freezing to death, in the dozens every night in this cold winter. And Mr President you are praying that we do better?
-the economic downturn we are suffering has only been exacerbated by Covid. The economic recession was induced by sheer incompetence in the failure of municipal services; the extent of blatant corruption that continues unchecked by govt officials have left the electorate speechless. And Mr President you are praying that we do better?
-And yet not one corrupt official appears to have faced his day in court. We hear that Ace Magashule, after being found guilty of embezzling millions is still earning his salary whilst on suspension. We hear that ex-President Zuma has openly defied a court summons, but the government appears powerless in the face of his disdain for the word of law. Mr President, do you not see that it is ONLY with the real threat of jail that your political colleagues will stop stealing? Do you not see you need to make AN EXAMPLE of these thieves masquerading as government officials, while the country burns.
And Mr President you are praying that we do better?
So Mr President, this is the simple prayer of your people:
We are praying you will do less worse.
The country is on its knees in sheer pain, hunger, and hardship. When you and your government do less badly, only then Mr President, you have a right to ask us, the people, to do better.
Sincerely one of your people of South Africa