u/Cero_Miedo4090

Written by someone else but very well said...

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South Africans keep asking how much worse things can get.

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That is the wrong question.

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The question is what happens when decline becomes permanent.

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For more than thirty years we have adapted to failure.

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When electricity failed, we adapted.

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When policing failed, we adapted.

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When municipalities failed, we adapted.

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When water systems failed, we adapted.

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When roads deteriorated, we adapted.

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When corruption was exposed, we adapted.

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Every crisis became another inconvenience to work around.

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Every failure became another expense.

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Every expense became another sacrifice.

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What we call resilience today would have been considered unacceptable twenty years ago.

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The danger is not the collapse of institutions.

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The danger is the collapse of expectations.

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South Africans no longer expect functioning municipalities.

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South Africans no longer expect reliable electricity.

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South Africans no longer expect effective policing.

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South Africans no longer expect government accountability.

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We expect failure and then congratulate ourselves for surviving it.

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That is not resilience.

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That is surrender disguised as resilience.

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The average South African is now paying to replace functions that government was created to provide.

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Private security.

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Solar systems.

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Generators.

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Water tanks.

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Boreholes.

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Medical aid.

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Private education.

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Armed response.

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Tracking systems.

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Insurance products designed around government failure.

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Every year more responsibility moves to the citizen.

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Every year more authority remains with the state.

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That is the imbalance nobody is discussing.

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A citizen who spends most of his income defending himself from decline is not building a future.

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He is preserving the present.

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His children inherit the same burden.

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Then their children inherit it again.

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Eventually an entire generation grows up believing this is simply how a country operates.

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That is the true danger.

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Not that South Africa collapses tomorrow.

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Not that there is some dramatic event on the horizon.

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But that decline becomes institutionalised.

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Permanent.

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Accepted.

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Normal.

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History shows that societies rarely lose their freedoms all at once.

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They lose them gradually as independence becomes more expensive and dependence becomes more necessary.

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The question South Africans should be asking is not whether the country is getting worse.

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The evidence already answers that.

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The question is this:

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At what point does survival stop being resilience and start becoming acceptance?

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Because once a nation accepts deterioration as normal, the battle is no longer against corruption, crime, failing infrastructure or incompetent governance.

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The battle is against the belief that nothing better is possible.

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And that is the moment decline stops being temporary and becomes a way of life.

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Written by Shaun Schutte

14 June 2026”

A Quote from Ian Smith's book- Bitter Harvest

"It always gave me much satisfaction to know that I was not in politics in order to make a living and that consequently I did not have to keep my job at all costs. And here I touch on one of the weaknesses of our democratic system: representatives are always looking over their shoulders and compromising on their true beliefs in order to win votes, a process which produces politicians who are followers, not leaders."

Whether you agree with Smith or not, it's an interesting criticism of democratic politics.

Do elections encourage leaders to follow public opinion, or is responding to voters exactly what leadership in a democracy should be?

Dating apps in Zimbabwe: do they actually work, or is it just for fun? Share your experiences! 🤔

Still on the fence about updating my Samsung Galaxy S24 to One UI 8.5! 🤔 For those who've already made the leap, what's your experience been like? Share your thoughts!

Judges deciding the WINNER. Takasara? 🙌🏿

After reading Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa by Peter Godwin, I'm beginning to see Zimbabwe's liberation war from a different perspective. The book has challenged some of my assumptions and made me think more deeply about what was happening during that period.

I'm interested in hearing how others who have read the book view the author's account. Do you think Peter Godwin's narration and interpretation of events are justified, or do you feel they are shaped by his personal background and experiences?

I'd also appreciate recommendations for other books, memoirs, oral histories, or sources that offer different perspectives on the liberation struggle. The more viewpoints, the better the understanding.