Nice to see some are still positive, tho I like to call it delusional..
Mandela & them promised not to mess with property rights, that's why people stayed all these years but are leaving now.
I also doubt your assumption on enough people want to make it work, else why would they vote for Zuma, twice. If you said voted for what they could score then at least you'd have been honest.
But yeah it takes a special kind to look at 40-50% capacity loss and say you know what I think we're going to be OK. BTW Jhb has water shortages now.
It's like value signaling, maybe call it attitude signalling.
Look there is no denying that things are bad. I will definitely give you that. And as for people voting - well I do not understand their mindset. But from talking to some people, often it is a historical thing. A feeling of being indebted to the party that freed them. But that is changing. You also have to remember that a lot of the people in this country are being manipulated and only seeing part of the picture. They do not have access to all the information that is freely available to those with money, jobs and living in built up areas.
Throughout history there are examples of people being manipulated, brainwashed, mislead. This is not unique here. We have politicians who know their people very well. They know what will stir their pride, what will make them feel included. And from a poor person's perspective - our politicians are idolized. They were terrorists - thrown out of the country - banned. Now they are the ones in power, driving big beautiful cars and living in huge houses on estates. This has been promised to the poor too. Wait your turn - you will be like us. We are preparing the way for you to rise. It will take time - but you too will be rich. Wealth is no longer cattle - it is a big house and fancy cars. They are not warned about all that goes with that big car and house. The costs, the repair and maintenance. Paying bills, accounts, taxes. None of that is ever mentioned to them. There is a reason for the non-payment of utilities in places like Soweto. And it is not the people's fault - but the politicians.
You say that the people should know better. I grew up in a mining town. The mindset was much the same. Status and wealth lay in objects. Often you would see them driving BMWs and Mercs but their kids did not have shoes or food during the day. They refused to pay the measly school fees but went to the Rec club every week. Often rent would go unpaid and they would have to pawn items to make the rent and stop the sheriff from evicting them. But they still had their fancy cars. I remember the speeches the AWB and CP used to give in town. I was about 10 at the time. How the people cheered. But only the poor people really. They were told that they were poor because other people were taking their jobs. That all the immigrants were coming in and trying to take what little they had away from them. They would protect them. They would ensure that they remained a force to be reckoned with. Separation of the people was the only way to ensure that their standard of living would go back to what it was.
Politicians know their people and will tell them what they want to hear. It takes people a while to realise they are being had.
