Eskom's chronic and persistent problems are a symbol of the ANC's gargantuan affirmative action failure. Laced with gross incompetence, this public enterprise literally gets away with murder with a public that is very compliant and cooperative. Add to that mix, cadre deployment, and the results have been and continue to be disastrous for the country.

A prime example of this basic incompetence, are the 31 babies from Bloemhof, North West, who were admitted to hospitals a week ago suffering from diarrhea. The rapid spread of the infection was due, in no small measure, to the contamination of the water supply, leaving the municipality without water for a week. Three infant deaths later and hundreds of people in the Lekwa-Teemane municipality with diarrhea, some admitted to hospital, indicate that government ineptitude can have fatal consequences.

Thank God the municipal manager, Andrew Makwapane, has been suspended, but tragically action against him comes a little too late. And that is the problem - senior officials tend to act when service delivery failures end in disease, and often in death. Elected officials should desist from appointing cadres to top positions, whose only qualification is political loyalty? Someone tellingly said: "the chief internal enemies of any state are those public officials who betray the trust imposed upon them by the people."

I have said this before and I will say it again - the poor application of affirmative action has human rights implications when those who are in charge of dispensing basic public services, are unqualified to do so. Affirmative action is entirely compatible with merit, skills and qualifications. When there is a dearth of suitably qualified black people, then we must, of necessity, appoint others, regardless of colour, with the requisite skills to provide for the needs of the public!

The Auditor-General's consecutive reports since 1999, shows a steady decline in the provision of quality services due to unspeakable levels of corruption. More seriously, it refers repeatedly to some of our public officials being seriously under-qualified for key portfolios. Frankly, many are "untrainable", often too young and far too inexperienced, and out of their depth at having to provide technical expertise in sanitation and waste management, in water purification and in keeping our water potable, our rivers and streams free from effluent.

Lest we forget, a similar outbreak happened some few years ago when 63 babies died from klebsiella in a KwaZulu-Natal hospital, a disease contracted by infants because nurses failed to wash their hands or abide by basic health regulations. To fail in the basics, is to violate the Bill of Rights that states very clearly, that "everyone has the right to have access to health care services, including ... sufficient food and water." The impact on the rights of the child can be calamitous and what we have, as a consequence, is a state that is guilty of placing the wellbeing of the child at risk by its gross dereliction of duty.

The endless corruption, incompetence, and failure to deliver, will ensure that "there will be no justice, there will be no government of the people, by the people, and for the people, as long as the government and its officials permit bribery in any form." A state based on constant court actions to induce results will ultimately be counter-productive. Litigious citizens are the end result of a government that has lost its vision and respect for its public; of a government that is in breach of the social contract between citizens and the state.

It is time for the ANC to take stock.

This article first appeared in Die Burger.

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