The idea of the public must be rebuilt

South Africa is in crisis and the intra-elite battles about how to move forward do not offer any viable path towards a just way resolution

- Richard Pithouse

The struggle against white rule in South Africa was always grounded in a shared conviction — across organisations, ideologies and forms of struggle that the country to come would not only end white supremacy, but would also be fundamentally just.

The declarations of the Freedom Charter are seldom recalled today but this confidence is powerfully expressed in a still famous remark by Steve Biko: “In time, we shall be in a position to bestow on South Africa the greatest possible gifta more human face.”

For many years after apartheid it was widely thought that, although we faced many serious problems, time was on the side of progress and justice. Jacob Zuma's cynical, violent, lying kleptocracy put an end to that and we have not been able to recover it. Impoverishment and inequality are worsening.

More than 40% of people are without work with over 60% of young people affected.

It has been years since we last had any meaningful economic growth.

Rural land reform has not been a success. The struggle for urban land is frequently met with criminalisation and violence.

More than a fifth of our people do not have enough food. Almost 30% of children under five suffer from stunted growth. More than 11 000 children die of malnutrition each year.

Public institutions from schools to hospitals and essential infrastructure like the rail network are in a dire state. Many municipalities have collapsed, and we endure one of the highest murder rates in the world. Extortion is endemic. People are desperate and in KwaZulu-Natal there is enthusiastic public support for the now regular executions by the police.

While the capture of the state for private gain is no longer centrally directed, it continues and in many cases worsens through shifting, decentralised networks, some of which are well described as mafias.