Purgatory by BG Britton - HTML preview

PUBLISHED ARTICLES

I also became active on electronic web sites, publishing some twenty-seven articles on the Linkedin Website and more than a dozen articles on the Thought Leaders, Biznews and Fin24 platforms.

I regularly submit written matter to Alec Hogg and Stuart Lowman for their consideration.

Up there with the best political  liars – will Zuma put Nixon to shame?

Veteran financial consultant Bryan Britton reminds us just how much pious rhetoric a politician can spew – in this case juxtaposing national kleptocracy with President Zuma’s glittering inaugural speech. It’s a breath-taking view of behaviour proving stated intentions spectacularly dishonest. While some readers may believe it’s stating the obvious, how many actually remember exactly what Msholozi said when he took over, besides solemnly vowing to uphold the tenets of our hard-won Constitution? Few I daresay, which makes this piece a timely reminder, lest the country-wide protests that saw hundreds of thousands of outraged citizens march against his continued presence at the helm, recede into whimsical nostalgia. We’re back into fighting the real hard yards now as the new political kleptocracy and imploding economy threaten every citizen’s quality of life, especially the poor whose hopes of a better life are diminishing with fearful speed. Whether we can recover from this near-fatal crash depends on us erecting indestructible traffic lights at what was previously a four-way stop – and hunting down and putting behind bars the obnoxious hit-and-run driver. Msholozi’s inaugural speech is proving as big and fat a lie as Richard Nixon’s “I’m not a crook” at the height of the Watergate scandal. What he’ll say when the full extent of his machinations is finally revealed, hardly bears thinking about? – Chris Bateman

A country, previously a leader on the African Continent, slipped these past weeks  into  a  typical  African  Kleptocracy.  Democratic  principles  practised  by     former Presidents Mbeki and Mandela have been discarded and since 2007 current  President Zuma has remained unaccountable to Parliament and has systematically attacked the Constitution, the Judiciary, the Free Press and the Treasury.

Through his popular patronage he has desecrated the economy and finally fashioned an African Kleptocracy that was held at bay for a number of years by the last bastion of Constitutional Democracy – the Treasury.

The New South Africa was born on April Fools’ Day 2017.

Gone is the custodian of economic sense – Pravin Gordhan. Gone is the custodian of the Public Sector Pension Fund – Mcebisi Jonas. Gone is South Africa’s Credit Rating.

South Africa is now State Captured Junk with little wriggle room. With Borrowings to Gross Domestic Product projected to 2019 in excess of 50%, the country has nowhere to go but down.

The resultant exodus of foreign capital will further reduce the level of Foreign Direct Investment, upon which the South African Economy is critically dependent,  rendering goods and services highly inflationary.

Sadly, the rural poor, the backbone of President Zuma’s electoral support base, will suffer the most. Here is a reminder of what the goat herder from Nkandla said to those poor souls at his inauguration.

“Today, as I take this solemn Oath of Office as the Fourth President of the Republic of South Africa, I do so deeply conscious of the responsibilities that you, the people of our country are entrusting in me.

I commit myself to the service of our nation with dedication, commitment, discipline, integrity, hard work and passion.

Compatriots, today, we enter a new era in the history of our nation, imbued with a resolve to do everything within our means to build a better life for all our people. Today, we renew our struggle to forge a nation that is at peace with itself and the world. As we rejoice in being surrounded by our friends from all over the world, we reiterate our gratitude for the sterling contribution of the international community to our struggle for freedom”. Jacob Zuma

“Let us build a nation that remains forever mindful of its history, of those who have sacrificed so much, and the many that put down their lives so we can be here today.

A nation filled with the laughter and joy of children.

A nation filled with a hope born of the knowledge that if we work together, we will achieve our dreams”. Jacob Zuma

*Bryan Britton is the author of ‘Stepping Stones’