Render unto Cyril the things that are Cyril’s?

3 February 2021

In the wake of the ANC government’s dismal failure to effectively and promptly secure sufficient supplies of COVID-19 vaccine there has emerged from their ranks talk of a tax hike in order to finance these vaccines.

This ineptitude and lack of vision have rightly angered many and have validated serious questions regarding the government’s dubiously leaky wallet and their stubborn unwillingness to allow private sector involvement in regard to the procurement and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

The government’s ironically titled “Solidarity Fund” has raised over R3 billion since its much publicised launch in 2020, but it now appears that these funds are nowhere to be found when they are desperately needed to fund vaccine procurement.

To add insult to injury, the government seems to have stubbornly committed itself to establishing a state monopoly on buying and distributing vaccines, and has slammed the door in the face of civil society and the private sector when pressed for answers.

Allowing the private sector to also buy and distribute vaccines would be just what the doctor ordered to relieve much of the financial burden and demands on the government in regard to vaccines.

The government’s refusal to provide clarity on AfriForum and Solidarity’s questions regarding this matter proves that the government considers it more important to centralise and consolidate its power than to practise financial frugality and save lives.

It is standard practice for the South African commentariat to lament the corruption, maladministration and breath taking waste of state funds under former President Jacob Zuma. It has, however, become increasingly embarrassing for them to still portray the Ramaphosa administration as a new dawn, when the day has long dawned to give criticism where criticism is due.

What we have witnessed on President Ramaphosa’s watch is more of the same, against a backdrop of an absence of serious consequences for those guilty of state capture and shameless corruption. It is becoming increasingly clear that the Zuma years were not a blemish on the ANC’s soul, but rather a true reflection of it. A government that shamelessly loots funds intended for the vulnerable, the struggling and the sick during a pandemic, has frankly forfeited the privilege of being given the benefit of the doubt.

The excuses of the New Dawners are getting more and more desperate, like the empty promises of infamous doomsday prophets. The longer they postpone acknowledging their error of judgement, the more crow is being dished up for their consumption.

So let us render unto Cyril the things that are Cyril’s, and unto our communities the things that are our communities’. In the case of President Ramaphosa, all that was his has already been rendered and most of it has subsequently been squandered or looted.

As far as our communities are concerned, there is still much to be rendered, which civil society is willing and able to do – a fact which, commendably, even one of Cyril’s main praise singers recently admitted.

Will the dwindling number of government cheerleaders cease trying to convince us to sacrifice even more on the altar of government dependency? We shall see, but in the meantime, those willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work on tangible, state-proof, community-based solutions are already picking the fruits of their resolve, and we’re only getting started.

* Ernst van Zyl is Strategy and Campaign Officer at AfriForum. He co-presents on the Podlitiek podcast, hosts the Afrikaans In alle Ernst podcast, and hosts a live interview show on YouTube. Ernst usually posts on Twitter and YouTube under his pseudonym Conscious Caracal (follow him at https://twitter.com/ConCaracal).