One of the most overworn phrases in South Africa is “the government must…”
The government must provide housing.
The government must educate our children.
The government must pay welfare grants.
The government must issue currency.
The government must provide electricity.
The government must ensure universal healthcare.
The government must subsidise the manufacturing industry.

Cognitive dissonance

South Africans think the government must do literally everything, and yet that same government is almost universally recognised to be utterly incapable of getting even the basics right.

Many South Africans are adjusting their behaviour to adapt to a failing state. Whether they are buying an off-road vehicle to navigate the crumbling roads, installing a solar panel on their rooftop, or digging a borehole in their backyard, these are the signs of a society slowly coming to terms with state failure and trying to mitigate its harmful effects.

But here lies a contradiction. If we instinctively know that the government is bad at doing most things, why then do so many people still insist on the government doing more? We should stop this unhealthy reflex of demanding ever more from an unwilling and incapable state.

No more money

All the goodies that politicians promise to pull out of their bottomless Mary Poppins handbag must be paid for by somebody. And that somebody is you – the taxpayer.

In the 2024/5 financial year, the South African government spent R2.4 trillion, leaving a yawning fiscal deficit of R357 billion. The state’s spendthrift ways are also driving up its debt burden, which now stands at R6 trillion, the equivalent of 77% of GDP.

Debt service costs are now estimated at R426 billion in the next financial year, meaning that for every rand the government collects in revenue, it will spend 22 cents on servicing its debt. This borrowed money will eventually have to be paid for by taxpayers.

Most commentators and politicians are blissfully ignorant of this fiscal reality, preferring to indulge in magical thinking about how the government should solve this or that problem, without any consideration of the costs, the second-order effects, or the trade-offs.

Take for example the attempts to nationalise private medical savings through the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme in the supposedly noble pursuit of ‘universal healthcare’. The self-serving busybodies in the Department of Health are entirely unbothered with trifling details such as costs and have thus refused to provide a budget for their socialist scheme. As PJ O’Rourke observed, “if you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.”

Captured state

Not only is the government dysfunctional and inefficient, but in many respects it is malevolent.

The Zondo Commission revealed the extent to which organs of state have been captured by criminal forces. Meanwhile, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi more recently alleged that criminal syndicates have infiltrated the highest echelons of the security apparatus.

Yet another commission of inquiry kicked off this week, tasked with investigating Mkhwanazi’s allegations. As with the Zondo Commission, don’t expect to see many prosecutions of high-profile politicians after Justice Madlanga concludes his work.

State capture is not a bug. It is a feature of the ANC’s policy of cadre deployment, and an integral part of the party’s National Democratic Revolution agenda. The greater the size and scope of government, the higher the stakes.

Ceding control

When you willingly delegate authority to the state, it’s hard to revoke that ill-considered decision.

South Africa’s universities are a prime example of the dangers of ceding power to the government. In the wake of the #FeesMustFall movement, where rioting students demanded free higher education (more goodies!), Jacob Zuma, in one of his last acts as president, made generous offers of fee write-offs without regard to the fiscal implications.

Not only did this crowd out private bursaries and scholarships, but it also created perverse incentives for university administrators to toe the government line. As legal scholar Prof Koos Malan warns, we have witnessed the ‘state-departmentalisation’ of the university system, where increased government control means more power to bureaucrats and politicians and less independence for academics.

A similar power grab is happening in basic education, where school governing bodies are being pushed aside by the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act.

The inappropriately named Department of Employment and Labour has locked millions of workers out of the job market by imposing regulations that favour unionised employees at the expense of the unemployed. That same department spends its time trying to socially engineer the workforce through the Employment Equity Amendment Act, imposing strict racial quotas on firms of 50 or more employees.

This goes beyond mere incompetence. These are the actions of a government that is threatening the vital interests of its citizens.

Less is more

Given this dubious combination of ineptitude and hostility, it’s not only naïve for you to expect the government to do everything, but also irresponsible, and even dangerous.

Many people reflexively turn to the government to solve their problems, but this is a negation of your own agency and responsibility. If you relinquish authority to the state, you also undermine your freedom to determine how to order the affairs of your business, your neighbourhood, your community, and even your very own family.

It’s time to update your model about what government can (and should) be doing.

Ansara is CEO of the Free Market Foundation (FMF).