Time to restore our faith

INDEPENDENT Police Investigative Direc-

torate head Robert McBride, four members of

the Eskom board, one member of the SABC

board – all put on notice, suspended or

outright removed in the space of a week.

Seemingly unrelated, these alarming develop-

ments are just the latest in a series of disruptions

that have rocked critical institutions of state – the

SA Revenue Service, the Hawks, the National Pros-

ecuting Authority, the SA Post Office, SAA, the Spe-

cial Investigating Unit – which suggest something

is desperately wrong with the way in which the gov-

ernment appoints people to key positions and the

rules under which they may be removed.

It may be too soon to panic but it is not premature

to wonder what on earth is going on.

In the absence of established facts, damaging

speculation has flourished while, for the most part,

the government has offered only platitudes.

President Jacob Zuma, asked in Parliament this

week about instability in the security cluster and

its rumoured links to his wish to protect himself

from investigation, offered only a bland denial and

the assurance that the institutions in question were

functional. He may have succeeded in keeping the

opposition pack at bay but his answer will hardly

have eased public disquiet.

And with a flatlining economy the one thing

South Africa cannot afford right now is a state of

national anxiety about the government’s ability to

function effectively.

It would be possible to work around load-shed-

ding and other examples of patchy government per-

formance if there were reason to believe it was

alive to all the problems and working steadfastly to

resolve them. Denial, obfuscation and interminable

inquiries will not inspire the confidence required

for everyone to work towards a recovery.

What is needed is the swift and credible resolution

of all these leadership disruptions in critical organs

of state to restore public faith in their ability to deliv-

er. It is time for Zuma and his government to provide

meaningful answers to the challenges they face.