By Themba Khumalo

There are South Africans who are drowning in an ocean of tears triggered by something that is dying. Being in denial makes them a collection of enraged lunatics who lash out at anybody who points out the obvious…that the organisation, whose diehard members call the Leader Of Society, is on life support.The leadership of the Leader Of Society is running around in never-ending circles trying all they can on trying to save it. They are so focused on saving the organisation that has given them filthy wealth that they are not paying attention to the demise of the republic.The republic is peopled by millions of disillusioned individuals who are yet to be saved from the claws of an organisation that puts itself before the country. They have watched with despair and rage as the leadership of the ANC unashamedly continues playing a toxic game of arrogance and entitlement.For almost thirty years of consuming the deadly drug of gluttony and egotism, it has lost all sense of purpose. The party has overdosed on this drug hence it finds itself on life support. It fills one with rage to listen to some of these narcissistic blockheads within the ANC speaking as if they care about the country. Even a drooling village idiot knows we are led by a party jam-packed with hyenas who are willing to tell any lie just to gain access to the scrumptious pieces of prime steak offered by access to power.The hyenas whoop, giggle and groan while the wretched weep and wail from the blows of socio-economic brutality.Through votes the masses are used as a convenient tool by twisted, tried and poorly tested office-bearers to lay their hands on the wealth stuffed in Aladdin’s treasure cave…an out-of-sight cave filled with tremendous riches and enchanted life. The ANC has seen and accessed the Genie’s magic lamp at the Union Buildings, and they will not be inconvenienced by a voting public that demands good governance.Regular citizens are given the middle finger by party apparatchiks and their powerful allies who delight in looting and stealing resources that are meant to make life a bit tolerable. The populace has observed the crass materialism displayed by these tuxedoed hyenas and they are pissed off.As life at the bottom of the barrel becomes shaped by crisis after crisis, the Lidashiphu couldn’t be bothered…they do not care a cursed damn. Life at the bottom is a potjiekos of predicaments: unemployment, lack of proper housing, poor service delivery, broken and unequal education system, poor healthcare, compromised security and crumbling infrastructure. Every day is a quest to survive – a struggle with no end in sight.In 1994 we held the first democratic elections, and we were made to believe that apartheid was dead and buried. Well, that is not completely true. It may have died in its statutory form, but its ghost and children continue to haunt and torment us. Many people put up a gallant fight against apartheid – to bring real transformation – and some paid with their lives, but the job of cleansing South Africa is yet to start. The agony and woes connected to apartheid continue to be a part of what is supposed to be a free South Africa. As things stand, coming generations are destined to inherit the oppression and exploitation spawned by apartheid.Real transformation will remain an elusive dream because the ANC’s term in government has transmuted it into some contraption that functions for the benefit of special class forces and interest groups seeking unfettered access to public sector jobs, lucrative contracts and other state resources.In the build-up to 1994, the organisation entered into a political pact with capital and the now-defunct National Party, thus throwing transformation out the window. The Leader Of Society reached an ostensible arrangement with the champagne-swilling plutocrats in exchange for political office, the formation of a black middle class, and aiding a select few hopeful black yuppies to become participants in the corporate domain as superior commanders.It is therefore no mystery as to why the ANC is an organisation that is in a state of thraldom of the kindred crème de la crème of capital. The organisation is welded at the hip with monopoly capital and the old economic structure: a structure of exclusion and exploitation where money is more important than human life.The fork-tongued banditti who pass themselves off as conscientious leaders have convinced themselves that their party holds the golden key to a better life for all and anyone who dares disagrees is labelled an ungrateful anti-revolutionary…an enemy of democracy. Their delusions of grandeur have led them to believe things can only be better if they are in charge of all positions of power.Sadly, they believe their lies. What we know about the party is that anything they touch mysteriously disappears. Anything they lay their hands on, they destroy.If you think I am an exaggerating pessimist, think again.Under their inattentive watch, there has been a rapid dilapidation of the rail infrastructure; crumbling roads that know no maintenance; a healthcare system that has one foot in the grave; dysfunctional municipalities are just a few examples of how the ANC has failed. If you still think I am a bit over the top in describing the ANC as a party prone to destroying everything they touch, spare a thought for Eskom that got so messed up that it can no longer keep the lights on.Eskom is now Messkom“Eskom, by not attending to load shedding, is actively agitating for the overthrow of the state,” blurted ANC chairman and Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe in December 2022.What the meowing Tiger conveniently forgot is that his party is responsible for turning Eskom into a load-shedding company instead of an electricity supply company. It is disingenuous of him and his cronies to blame Eskom.It is because of the governing party’s avarice that we find ourselves with this monumental electricity problem. It is not as if load-shedding was some bolt from the blue and it happened by some slip-up or was created by saboteurs without a course. We are not that dumb to not be able to decipher that there are endless attempts to feed us toxic lies so as not to look where the real problem is –the ruling party’s misgovernance.After churning out lie after lie, making pie-crumbs promises and issuing jaw-dropping statements about ending load-shedding, the Lidashiphu is now calling for a state of national disaster. I cannot help but be worried that money will end up in the pockets of the connected few. It happened with Covid-19 funds. How I wish I could be proven wrong…I hope the latest attempt will bring the lights back on. Load-shedding has messed up our lives.