By Kabelo Mollo
Spring has sprung and the festive has begun. There ought not be any recrimination at this thought and anyone who feels otherwise must do a quick audit of our last eighteen months or so… Tough times never last, only tough people last! It’s time for shorts and flops, for summer dresses and sandals. Time for all day swimming pool sessions and even mosquitoes. It’s time for the best life, and it’s not a moment too soon either.
All of that notwithstanding, this week I have been mulling over a fairly depressing thought. Is this once majestic nation a “failed state?” A failed state is defined as such by Google “a state whose political or economic system has become so weak that the government can no longer control it”. Basically a nation on autopilot. An economy with no real prospects for growth. Allow me to present some anecdotal evidence.
The Prime minister through the disaster management authority and act changes the level of lockdown not so long ago. The result of that is a change of curfew time, a restriction on liquor stores are open as well as the border being closed and a number of other adjusted restrictions. Soon after that, Lesotho loses a legendary crooner and Julius Malema announces live on a public platform that he will be coming to Lesotho to bury him. How, when the borders are closed?
Then as a person who is generally in the house by 6 o’ clock pm, I am stunned to discover scores of people who have been arriving home at 6 o’ clock am in spite of the curfew. Meanwhile, I haven’t yet heard of a single person unable to procure alcohol for themselves over the weekend. Basically nobody is adhering to the laws… Oh, unless young active citizens want to march against the nonsensical M5000 petrol allowances parliamentarians have given themselves, then suddenly the police jump in to action. Sounds to me like a government no longer in control.
Neither the public nor private sector have shown any appetite nor nous in terms of growing this stagnant economy. Covid is blamed a lot but in truth even before the pandemic hit, the prospects for economic growth were slim to none.
There are individuals and singular entities that are making a lot of money, some as a result of their own ingenuity but many as a result of patronage and cronyism. Factory workers continue to be paid peanuts while the unemployment figures remain staggering. The government’s response to these challenges, a talk shop here, a PR response there but nothing in terms of tangible action. The private sector continues to hide behind legislation or the lack thereof rather than grabbing the proverbial bull by the horns and taking discernable action that will take the country and economy forward. There is very little will from both the public and private sector for the situation to improve.
I talk about this all the time on social media, so I’ll extend the rant to this column. The escalator at Pioneer Mall has been dysfunctional since the first lockdown, that was in March last year. I see both escalators are no longer operational now. I haven’t to date ascertained why that is but it’s become normal. In essence degradation has become the order of the day in what you would imagine as something of a shining light in an otherwise gloomy economic circumstance. When I mull over the idea of ours being a failed state I think about things like those escalators and draw the conclusion in my mind.
Last week between changing diapers, feeding and burping an ever growing human; my wife and I were discussing digital innovation in this market. My wife told me categorically my pie in the sky ideas for digital solutions were no good here. I have on occasion been totally bewildered by my people’s acceptance of the mediocrity that permeates our society. Our acceptance that the service industry will remain forever in the doldrums. “Ke Lesotho mona” as a standard riposte to a complaint about shoddy services. It’s all telling when you try to decipher whether or not you live in a failed state.
I have seen newspaper reports suggesting an IMF bailout looms. Many more qualified than me will decide whether that’s good or bad news, but from my purview its not. A government struggling to balance the proverbial books because of its own inefficiencies can’t then be bailed out with those same issues plaguing them. What happens to heavily indebted people when they’re offered a lifeline through one more loan? It’s the old “robbing Peter to pay Paul” scenario. I doubt it augurs well for our growth and development as a nation…
I hope I am completely wrong in my assessment and that these doom and gloom thoughts that I have are merely perceptions that can be set right by reality, but I’m not hopeful. I think many have failed the state and so in return the state is failed…
