Mr President 你说的没有道理

I was mildly irked of late when I read of utterings the President made about China.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said at a political rally in Durban last November that he wanted all South Africans to be ambassadors for the country. He called on us to spread the message of progress by the ANC government instead of bad-mouthing the country. 

“Everyone must be a messenger — we must be like China. In China, nearly everyone is a messenger — every Chinese is a messenger for their country, they never badmouth their own country. Never badmouth your country,” he said.

We bad mouth the utterly bereft policies of the ANC government

I do not know of a single person who bad-mouths the country. People love the landscape, the music, the food, fellow South Africans, winning the rugby world cup, and most of us even support taking on Israel. What we do badmouth, however, is the utterly bereft policies of the ANC government. If the president is telling us not to speak the truth about the ANC, then he may as well go breed buffaloes.

The part I laughed at was where he said the ANC policies had served to “advance social transformation, to build safer communities, to fight corruption and to promote integrity. To strengthen governance and to build a capable state, unity and diversity, social cohesion for a better SA,” he said.

Now the president bas the democratic right to voice any meaningless, incorrect woolly 胡说. That is Mandarin for nonsense.

For him to attribute thoughts to 1.4 billion people is racism to me

What I was aggrieved by was his reference to China. I doubt if the erstwhile president has ever spoken to a single Chinese person who was not part of a government delegation meeting him. For him to then attribute thoughts to 1.4 billion people with whom he has never engaged is racism to me.

I have lived in China since September 2017, teaching at a school, at two universities and editing a magazine. Allow me to work through the president’s 狗屁. This word will not be translated as it is not polite.

South Africa, at the end of World War II was more advanced in probably every way than China. Today, however, China offers virtually uncapped internet access for R120 a month. Well, that was the price until the ANC government policies all but collapsed the rand. Let me not speak of the unbeatable public transport, excellent medical services, unbelievable public toilets and spotless city centres.

ANC cadres cannot even keep the lights on any more.

Social transformation in South Africa has meant that ANC cadres have been placed in leading positions in business and government where their skill counted for nothing and their political affiliation alone mattered. Such people cannot even keep the lights on any more.

Here in China, the Chinese Communist Party has lifted 770 million people out of poverty over the past 40 years through policies that work. The poverty level is $1.90 a day, which is the International Poverty Line as defined by the World Bank. Through these uplifting programmes, China contributed close to three-quarters of the global reduction in the number of people living in extreme poverty. Among the inputs into the success was a focus on education, sustained public investments in infrastructure and structural policies supportive of competition. That has not happened in South Africa.

Corrupt public servants are punished

Another major input was that if public servants or business people stole money intended to help the poor or took bribes, they would be jailed or even executed. Just saying. Oh, also, incompetent people were removed from public office.

Now if the ANC put people who stole from the poor in jail – as opposed to into public office – that would give rise to a lot of praise, not bad-mouthing. Promise.

Mr President said his party’s policies had served to build safer communities. Now that, Mr President, is 屁话. Another word that is best not translated. In China women walk home alone through city centres at 2 am. Regularly. People walk along deserted river banks at 11 pm. Mr President, that does not happen in South Africa. Instead, people get held at gunpoint in the afternoon in Sandton for an outdated cell phone.

Let us go back to this idea of building a capable state. All the public servants I have dealt with in China were proud to be public servants who performed their duties with pride. It seems that top-class people find their way into public office in China. It shows. This has not been my experience back home. Like all intimidated motorists, I applied to get a renewed driver’s licence when I was back in South Africa in July 2023. I went through all the bureaucratic steps, and the license was ready for collection.

Rules had changed in the interim

I was back in China when the license was ready for collection, and I sent my emissary to collect it, but, alas, the rules for collection had changed in the interim. My emissary was not issued with the license. I sent an email to the license officials and, within hours, got this automated reply on September 25 2023: “Dear valued client, We acknowledge receipt of your email. The RTMC-NaTIS CTC department is currently working from 08:00 am until 4:30 pm, Mondays to Fridays. Our turnaround time is 2-3 weeks. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. RTMC-NaTIS CTC Department.”

Until this moment, I have not received a response from the license. Not a single word on how to collect my license. So, did I wait for my license or did I buy one from an informal and utterly effective licensing office? Mr President, if you or your office bothers to contact me, I will tell you. And if you could just get the traffic lights to work while we are getting on so well.

I liked your point about a better SA. Well, your bunch has not made South Africa better. I need not bother to repeat the dozens of ways you lot have made my beloved land worse.

But let me end on a positive note. The one thing the ANC did for me was to have China recognise my passport so that I could work here. We South Africans are pouring into China and are well regarded here. We are not asked if we are black or white; we are only asked if we can do the job.

I wish your comrades/cadres could do their taxpayer-paid jobs.

The Mandarin phrase 你说的没有道理 can be translated as: you’re not making any sense.

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