Political dysfunction: SA vs. USA
with kind permission of the author at
www.moneyweb.co.za
Political dysfunction has been on display around the world lately, from Europe's dithering in the face of disaster, to America's failed deficit super-committee, to the South African government's decision to pass the Secrecy Act.
In country after country, politicians faced with daunting challenges have chosen the path of least resistance, whether it's inaction, vacillation, or riding roughshod over the needs of citizens.
In America, for example, a bitterly divided legislature has chosen to kick taking action on the country's fiscal mess down the road by failing to agree to a budget balancing plan, while in Europe, politicians have wavered and dithered as one European nation after another has headed towards the brink of fiscal meltdown. In South Africa, government has chosen to ignore public opinion and pursue anti-democratic legislation in order to better protect itself against scrutiny and scandal rather than dealing with corruption head-on.
The story is the same everywhere, and it's all deeply troubling; wherever you look, there are politicians fumbling their jobs and putting us all in harm's way.
Now, for most South Africans, the biggest news of the last few weeks has been the passage of the Protection of State Information Bill. The so-called secrecy bill is widely seen as a threat to South Africa's democratic freedoms, and its passage through Parliament has sparked criticism from local and international media, opposition politicians, journalists, and citizens. Although the bill could still be killed by the Constitutional Court, the simple fact of its successful passage seems to be a sign that the ANC is seeking to increase its ability to squash dissent and avoid scrutiny. This is worrying, because dissent and scrutiny are essential ingredients in a democracy.
The bill, coming on top of tensions in the ruling party over Julius Malema and other issues, suggests that the ANC is going through a rough patch, trying to juggle consolidating its hold on power and dealing with the country's many problems against the backdrop of an unstable and risky global economy. All in all, it's a fraught situation that has plenty of people very worried.
However, as troubling as the secrecy bill is, and it is troubling, there's nevertheless a pretty solid case to be made that political dysfunction in other countries poses a far more serious threat to South Africa's immediate future than the ANC's various machinations.
For example, the slowly imploding eurozone is a very, very scary prospect. Should the Euro collapse, as seems increasingly possible, the consequences would be catastrophic, not just for Europe, but for the rest of the world too; in all likelihood, the global economy would fall back into recession, and the world would face yet another financial crisis. For South Africa, instability or recession in Europe, its largest export market, would be disastrous - jobs would be lost, the rand would probably take a beating, growth would slow, and any number of other unpleasant consequences would ensue.
What makes the whole thing so frustrating is that much of the blame for the crisis can be placed squarely on the shoulders of politicians in western Europe (think France and Germany), who have seemed constantly torn between the desire to save their ever-closer union and the desire to abandon the weak and save themselves. Unable to muster the political will to commit to saving the Euro, these politicians have brought us all to the brink of disaster, and what's worse, only they can save us.
In a similar vein, the US government's inability to get any kind of fiscal legislation passed poses a less direct but still serious short-term threat to South Africa. As I've discussed elsewhere, the failure of the American deficit reduction super-committee has significantly raised the risk that various important stimulus measures and tax proposals will also fail. Should this happen, America could easily slide back into recession, which would almost certainly mean a global recession and plenty of economic pain for SA. Once again, the whole situation is especially frustrating because it's the result of political dysfunction, this time in the form of partisan wrangling and buck-passing in America.
The world is a pretty scary place right now and the problems we face are large and complex. Given this, it's perhaps understandable that our politicians have chosen to bury their heads in the sand - understandable, but lamentable. Let's hope that they somehow manage to do the right thing before it's too late.
- Felicity Duncan
(felicity@moneyweb.co.za)
Kind regards,
Your insurance broker,
Stretch
PS. Please help us keep you better informed - Join our newsletter -
(No obligation and no pestering:)
