There is outrage over alleged bogus doctors who were arrested recently. They face various criminal charges. People who were "treated" by them are understandably upset. It goes without saying that only a trained professional should treat illness or injuries.
We are similarly concerned that airline pilots, for instance, are properly qualified. But non-performance in other areas is also serious even though the consequences manifest more slowly.
President Jacob Zuma got away with an astonishing statement in his opening address to parliament. He said: "In the health sector, this year we will emphasise the appointment of appropriate and qualified personnel to the right positions."
I can't imagine the leader of any other country stating something like this in this way. It's an admission that inappropriate and unqualified people have been appointed in a critical sector.
According to Zuma "we need qualified heads of department, chief financial officers, hospital chief executive officers, district health officers and clinic managers." So who is in these positions now?
It's no wonder that our health services are such a mess, ruined by crony political appointments. In some cases, good people have been actively chased out.
Dr Thys von Mollendorff left the Rob Ferreira Hospital near Nelspruit after the MEC for Health harassed him because he allowed volunteer counsellors to give anti-retroviral drugs to rape victims. This was at the height of Thabo Mbeki's AIDS denialism.
Dr Nokuzola Ntshona, the medical superintendent who exposed baby deaths at the Frere Hospital in East London in 2007 was fired. But the hospital's CEO, Mr Luvuyo Mosana, had his contract extended recently.
He is a former ANC councillor with a degree in political science. I think he is a bogus manager, and there are many more in hospitals around the country. It's part of the bogus transformation practiced by the ANC whereby unqualified cadres predictably mess up at the expense of the wider population.
Time and again we see the same story. The latest is R1.2 billion irregular spending by the Road Traffic Management Corporation. Deputy Transport Minister Jeremy Cronin calls it a "disaster", but it is a disaster that will continue to happen because of crony deployments.
According to an internal ANC report, 90% of municipalities in North West province are dysfunctional because incompetent officials were appointed to critical posts. The ANC's Saki Mofokeng said "The damage done to the administrative capacity of municipalities to deliver is unimaginable."
It seems to be slowly dawning on some in the ANC that these bogus appointments have real consequences. But putting friends in charge everywhere seems to be like a drug built into the inner structure of the ANC.
As acknowledged by Mofokeng, the unqualified officials were appointed because of their loyalty to one or other ANC faction. This factionalism is likely to continue.
The solution is a professional, non-political civil service where appointments are based on merit. This will only happen when the ANC recognises that party and state should be separate. And they should heed former president Nelson Mandela when he said: "Government is not an employment agency."
It is ironic that the meritocratic SA Revenue Services collects taxes efficiently only to be spent badly by most government departments. Appointing the best person for the job makes best sense for everybody.
Jack Bloom MPL, is DA Leader in the Gauteng Legislature. This article first appeared in The Citizen.
Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter
