Malema's tenderpreneurship gets to the heart of what is wrong with the ANC's closed, crony society for the few
The report that ANC Youth League President Julius Malema's lifestyle has been funded by government tenders, and that the majority of the projects won by his firms were not completed on time, demonstrates two facts:
First, tenderpreneurship continues to bankroll heavyweight ANC politicians, as part of the ANC's closed, patronage society for the well-connected few. Along with their policy of cadre deployment, the awarding of government contracts to the ruling elite, stands at the heart of what is so fundamentally wrong about the ANC's style of governance.
The tragedy of the sort of tenderpreneurship engaged in by Malema and his ilk, is to be found in the nature of its relationship with the chronic backlogs in service delivery across many South African provinces and municipalities. The link is obvious: contracts or jobs that reward cronies inevitably come at the expense of the majority, since they are provided to those who are well connected, rather than those with the skills to deliver services to the people.
Second, for Malema to say "there is no law that says politicians can't be businessmen" just shows how duplicitous and, frankly, delirious, people like Malema have become. This, after all, was a man who once said "being involved in business compromises the independence of the ANCYL".
In classic ANC style, it's 'one set of rules when they suit us, and another set when they suit us'.