OPINION | Covid-19 has shown that an effective state is not a luxury, it's an urgent necessity One only has to compare the health disaster in the US with a country like Germany, or Vietnam, to see the difference that effective governance makes.
With Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro and Narendra Modi as the three horsemen of the apocalypse, and other equally dangerous men like Viktor Orbá* and Rodrigo Duterte riding close behind, the future looked bleak.Trump, Bolsonaro and Boris Johnson all initially denied the seriousness of the new virus and gave their citizens macho bluster rather than scientifically backed responses.
One only has to compare the health disaster in the US with the experience of a country like Germany, or Vietnam, which has not had a single death due to Covid-19, to see the difference that effective governance makes.Countries like Vietnam, and China, which also dealt with the virus very well, are more authoritarian but also have highly effective states.
We can already see that countries like Germany and China have the capacity to deal effectively with crises, while countries like the US, the UK and India do not. As a result, the power of these countries will decline, while that of countries like Germany and China will continue to rise. We have learnt a hard lesson. If South Africa is to prepare for the rocky road ahead we need, as an urgent matter of national concern, to build an effective state. South Africans fought too hard for democracy to accept the authoritarian version of an effective state. What we need to work towards is the democratic German version of an effective state.
It is time for society to step into the breach, and to make it clear to the ANC that corruption and dysfunction will no longer be tolerated, and that Ramaphosa will have the backing of society if he does find the courage to act against the corrupt elements that continue to hold real power in the ANC.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
COVID-19: Trump administration takes control of Covid-19 data in the United StatesThe Trump administration is taking control of data collection on COVID-19 hospitalisations in the United States from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rising questions about whether the information will be politicised as cases in the US surge and deaths rise.
Read more »
COVID-19 LIVE UPDATES | Several police stations closed after officers test positive for Covid-19Covid-19 live coverage.
Read more »
One in 50 test positive for Covid-19 in Cape Flats' worst-hit districtOne in 50 people in part of the Cape Flats have now tested positive for Covid-19.
Read more »
One in 50 test positive for Covid-19 in Cape Flats' worst-hit districtWestern Cape government infection statistics on Friday showed that the Klipfontein health subdistrict, which includes the densely populated communities of Nyanga, Gugulethu and Delft, had 7,624 confirmed cases.
Read more »
'It’s as if your loved one is a leper': Ndileka Mandela on Covid-19 burialsNdileka took to her Facebook page as her aunt's funeral was under way on Friday and described hosting a burial for someone who had died with the virus as “brutal”.
Read more »
'It’s as if your loved one is a leper': Ndileka Mandela on Covid-19 burialsAfter losing her aunt, Zindziswa Mandela, Ndileka Mandela has painted a painful picture of how people who die with Covid-19 are buried.
Read more »