Look beyond election promises to the concrete solutions on offer

Dear DM168 readers,

I’m a born and bred KZN girl and, after 18 years in the Western Cape, I still dearly miss the balmy weather of the East Coast. The province holds beautiful memories and many of my loved ones still live there. But when I took my partner for a visit in December (his first real trip to Durban and surrounds), I saw everything afresh through his eyes … and it was heartbreaking.

Nothing looked like I remember. The gorgeous beaches I had raved about were now full of sewage and not really safe to swim in. The centre of town, where I used to go on the weekends to “window shop”, and where I spent much of my student years, was now a mess of litter, lined with buildings neglected for years.

Durban, the  city that was once compared with Miami – and hailed as the place “where the sun never sets and the fun never stops” – is a shadow of what it used to be.  Venturing into the Midlands reveals more of the same. It fills me with sadness to know that when I talk about my memories, that’s all they are now, because the places and sights so fondly etched in my mind have been ravaged beyond recognition.

That can be partly attributed to the KZN riots of 2021 – the province is still trying to repair much of that damage – and extreme floods. However, a large part of the blame, I think, can be laid on mismanagement by the province and municipalities.

In our lead story this week, DM political journalist Queenin Masuabi takes a look at the current political posturing as parties vie to gain control of KZN. If I were still living there, I would take a hard look at the state of the province and what politicians are bringing to the table. Voters need to see past lofty election promises and focus on concrete solutions that can restore the province to what it once was.

It’s not all doom and gloom this week, though. Ferial Haffajee brings us the first part of a feature looking at up-and-coming politicians younger than 45. Though some names, such as Ronald Lamola, are immediately recognisable, there are many who are fairly new to the political scene. With them comes hope that we are moving towards a new regime, maybe even a corruption-free one (a girl can dream).

From a former professional wrestler to former leaders of the #FeesMustFall protests, these are young leaders who are stepping up to make a change. Finding out more about them has filled me with hope.

Looking further afield, Caryn Dolley brings us the strange tale of a former South African who left our shores and moved to the US – where he proceeded to murder two women. Not only that, but in a story worthy of a “dumbest criminal” award, he filmed one of the murders and labelled the memory card “homicide at Midtown Marriott”. Having read some of the comments he made about South Africa on online forums, I can’t say I’m sorry he emigrated.

The story of the week has been the signing into law of the controversial National Health Insurance Bill by President Cyril Ramaphosa. After greeting the announcement with disbelief, health industry sources were cautious about commenting before the signing on Wednesday. Critics will tell you the move smacks of electioneering, coming exactly two weeks before election day. NHI has admirable goals. The problem lies in the details.

Millions of people have unanswered questions about what this will mean for them, how it will work and, most importantly, how it will be funded and by whom. We have three articles looking at NHI in this edition – an opinion piece by Alex van den Heever, chair of social security system administration and management studies at the Wits school of governance, an editorial by Tim Cohen and a third article from yours truly looking at what medical schemes had to say.

I’ve covered healthcare since 2004 and I’ve heard about NHI ad nauseam for years. After listening to all the criticism from the private sector, and even doubts from the public sector, I think it’s safe to say you shouldn’t cancel your medical scheme membership any time soon. Even the Treasury, responsible for finding the money to fund NHI, says implementing it could take “three decades”.

Though I have been known to talk a lot, I’m also a fan of taking action. On that note, I urge you, dear reader, to find out about the different political parties by reading their manifesto summaries on Daily Maverick’s website, and then exercise your right to vote come 29 May. You can’t complain if you don’t bother to vote.

Heather will be back next week. Send her your thoughts at heather@daily­maverick.co.za and she may just feature your letter on our readers’ page.

Yours in defence of truth,

Neesa

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.