Ongeziwe Zondani

For three decades, you have promised to build a South Africa that is “better for all”. But somewhere along the way, the meaning of for all got lost and the struggle became increasingly about you, your comrades and the privileges that come with power. You became arrogant, disconnected and out of touch with the very people you were elected to serve. The blue lights, bodyguards, government positions and VIP treatment got into your heads. You gradually forgot that public office is a responsibility, not a reward, and that leadership is about serving people, not looking down on them. You prioritised everyone else (investors, foreigners and international interests) while neglecting the ordinary South Africans who entrusted you with their votes. We watched your fellow comrades boast about having the option of taking a shower at a hotel when there was no water at home, while ordinary citizens were expected to endure hours, sometimes days, without water flowing from their taps. You failed to maintain the country’s infrastructure and allowed criminal mafias to establish themselves in spaces where the state should be firmly in control. You ratified international treaties and agreements without adequately considering their long-term implications for our economic sovereignty and development. You turned government departments, municipalities and SOEs into territories of political patronage rather than institutions of public service. I could write until tomorrow about the opportunities wasted, the institutions weakened and the promises betrayed. But perhaps the greatest tragedy is that you reduced the meaning of democracy to the act of voting every five years. You forgot that democracy does not end at the ballot box. It lives in the quality of water coming out of people’s taps, the safety of their neighbourhoods, the jobs they can access, the dignity with which they are treated and the confidence they have in their government. South Africa was never meant to be a country where a select few enjoy the fruits of democracy while millions are left to survive on promises. I hope that one day you will pause, look beyond your positions and privileges, and honestly reflect on what you have done with the trust of the people. History will not judge you by how long you stayed in power, how many blue lights escorted you or how many positions your comrades occupied. It will judge you by whether the lives of ordinary South Africans became better because you were entrusted with leadership. There is still a country worth fighting for, a democracy worth protecting and a future worth building. But that future must put ordinary South Africans back at the centre of everything. The people were never meant to serve those in power. Those in power were elected to serve the people.