As the chattering classes fawn over the president's "stunning and brave" lockdown leadership, the truth, as always, alludes them. Lockdown reveals a weak, unimaginative, detached, reckless, weather vane leader. 1/n
1. The state doesn't have the capacity to enforce lockdown or deal with its resultant chaos. The president made one of the most fundamental strategy errors - committing his govt beyond its logistical capabilities.
2. Expecting the poorest SAns to endure lockdown itself and the
2. Expecting the poorest SAns to endure lockdown itself and the
resulting economic fall-out reveals detachment from reality, far too ensconced in palace affairs and nursing the patronage networks of his elite circle to realise how unpopular his plan is with the masses.
3. Applying a one-size-fits-all plan for 60 mil ppl shows the president
3. Applying a one-size-fits-all plan for 60 mil ppl shows the president
doesn't grasp social complexity, regional differences, uneven risk vectors, or managing scarce means for various ends. We must see this as a glaring intellectual failure, lacking imagination and analytical understanding.
4. It is clear that even commonly-accepted claims that
4. It is clear that even commonly-accepted claims that
the president is a consensus-builder are nonsense. The breadth of input for lockdown seems to have been a) copy other govts, b) listen to socialist public health advisors, c) listen to a dirigiste cabinet. How much consultation there was with sycophantic corp boards is unclear.
5. The president's decision to flip society on its head, with CERTAIN economic damage for UNCERTAIN health benefits is beyond reckless. The decision betrays an embarrassingly low regard for the intricacy of the social order & a disturbing revolutionary bias.
6. Lockdown reveals a weather vane leader, swept along by unverified hype. At ease going along with the Davos set, even to the detriment of the country he so precariously leads.
7. The ease with which the state not only instituted lockdown but also the additional draconian rules
7. The ease with which the state not only instituted lockdown but also the additional draconian rules
further reveals a leader most at ease with dirigiste centralisation. This makes him dangerous, not a lovable teddy bear.
One could go on, but the point is this: COV19 didn't heal the leadership void at the helm of South Africa's failing state. It laid it bare.
One could go on, but the point is this: COV19 didn't heal the leadership void at the helm of South Africa's failing state. It laid it bare.
