DURBAN - Apartheid was inhumane and abominable, an ugly blot on mankind. When it was eventually toppled there was great hope that the majority government would deliver the masses from this pernicious evil. Sadly, the ANC has not delivered.
More than six million people are unemployed and many can be seen daily sitting forlornly on the road-sides, waiting for jobs.
Yet those employed in the civil service know no such pain or misery. Overstaffed, overpaid and overweight, they are having a ball of a time lounging in their air-conditioned offices.
One would have expected the ANC cadres to show loyalty to the state, take pride in their work and give their all to rebuild the nation. But arrogant, indifferent and often incapable, they provide an appalling service to the public. More often than not, they are engaged in corrupt practices.
At the ANC’s 107th anniversary, President Cyril Ramaphosa launched a scathing attack on lazy civil servants. He said it was time civil servants served the public first and not themselves, their families or friends.
Many countries have suffered worse atrocities than we have and yet have risen from the ashes of war. Allied forces bombed Hitler’s Nazi Germany into submission. Countless millions perished on both sides. Germany’s woes continued after the war. Divided into east and west, the East Germany economy stagnated for decades behind the iron curtain. But look where a unified Germany is now - the strongest economy in Europe.
Japan felt the power of the atomic bomb. Though it suffered an ignominious defeat, see what a global economic force it is. Korea is divided but South Korea has a thriving economy. Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia have suffered under the ravages of war. They did not sit on their butts - they worked hard to rebuild their countries.
All these nations have displayed the indomitable spirit of man and excelled in times of adversity.
We, however, excel in indolence and corruption.