Political Elites Keep the Blinkers On.
*This article first appeared in the Star: Authors Henk Smith and Christopher Rutledge. Despite the mounting evidence, at both a local and international level, of a growing discontent among citizens and their rejection of elite driven political solutions, our politicians in South Africa continue to plough ahead as if they existed in a special political cocoon, assuming that the on rushing light is the soothing end of the tunnel. Instead it is as Mettalica reminds us: “the soothing light at the end of your tunnel, Is just a freight train coming your way”. Then, as if the electoral tremors of the local government elections were not enough, we were soon treated to the type of brazen arrogance we have now become accustomed to when dealing with the question of black lives, when the Esidimeni mass deaths came to light. Similarly, the entrenchment of structural violence in the mining sector through the currently unfolding legislative process to amend the mining legislation under t...