I live in a village, in Qwa Qwa. I have been living there for 17 full years. The little children playing beside the road, with mischievous laughter every now and then, the casual greeting form the neighbours and the smell of traditional home cooked meals are the things that comfort us and help us forget the infrastructure that never was.

Elections come and go with political parties displaying their manifestos to the community creating a melody and vision of the never land that the child will never get to see. Yet we continue to vote with the hope of seeing change.  Health services in terms of public clinics are the icing on the cake. Nurses sit at the reception area complaining about how little they are being paid for all their “hard work”, while patients have to live up to their title and remain patient.

There is a family I came across while doing my research, they applied for an RDP house 13 years ago, and guess what………….they are still waiting for it to be built. For the past 13 years, they have been living in a shack amongst others who are facing the same situation. Being in a shack, in an environment filled with waste and breeding rodents, yet our government believes in the term: “service delivery” Who are these services being delivered to?

Service delivery should not revolve around being shown a news insert of one Gogo who has been waiting for an RDP house to be built for her since Madiba got released from prison. It should rather be about how our government continues to build houses for those in need, how it improves waste management, clean water supply, sanitation and infrastructure.  Our nation has gradually changed from having a government by the people for the people to one that is by the people for others’ pockets.

The former director general of environmental affairs and tourism “Chippy Olver” stated that “we are fuelling instability instead of institutional memory. A developmental state or country should be able to do the basics, such as to deliver services efficiently and effectively without corruption and with proper accountability.” but oh no, ladies and gentlemen, our county sees it fit to spend billions on arms deals rather than providing for its people’s needs, furthermore it becomes evident that our country has decided to invest in war sustaining resources rather than peace keeping mechanisms.

I noticed an internet news update on news 24 a few months ago, concerning the nationalization of mines. Now, looking at that, I started to wonder, “How is the government planning to maintain mines when it fails to maintain its citizens’ areas of residence.” It is a common principle of logic; you start small and grow big. Not forgetting that state owned enterprises tend to be less efficient because they do not need to respond to consumer demand to optimize profit. And we shout BEE, honestly S.A, who is being empowered?

Policy makers should develop limitation mechanisms within present policies. Not develop new policies as the apparent problem is implementation not planning. An example could be with the usage of funds. If a municipality is given 10 million for housing, let the 10 million be for housing. Councillors and mayors should not be allowed to use one department’s funds to fix problems of another. Our leaders need moral regeneration. The wise say: “A fish starts to rot from the head”. So wouldn’t it be better if we cleanse it, spice it and grill it before it starts to rot? Our government should live and exude transparency to restore the nation’s confidence in them.