Who are the most destructive leaders in South Africa?

Are the most destructive leaders in South Africa actually the idealists who believe only they can fix society, while ignoring history, trade-offs, and real consequences?

In his book The Vision of the Anointed, Thomas Sowell describes a widely held vision embraced by many politicians, intellectuals, and media figures not only in the USA, but also in South Africa.

He refers to it as the ”anointed vision” because those who embrace this mindset see themselves as messianic figures. Consciously or unconsciously, they believe that they have a superior grasp of society’s problems and are uniquely equipped to fix them.

Thomas Sowell argues that the anointed advance their agenda through speech marked by crisis, manufacturing a sense of urgency, calling for government intervention through so-called “justice”, and discrediting others as misinformed.

He sees their approach as rooted in pride, rather than genuine concern. He says that the anointed regularly ignore contrary evidence and undermine social cohesion. According to Sowell, the anointed are not simply misguided idealists, but individuals who love their own perceived virtue. It is for these reasons that the anointed are destructive in their leadership.

Considering Sowell’s book, I want us to now look at South Africa and consider politicians, intellectuals, and media figures who ignore contrary evidence and use crisis language to justify more government involved.

Who are detached from ordinary people? Who believes that all problems can be solved through more government oversight? Who labels dissenting voices as misinformed? Who tries to fix everything through social or environmental justice?

Who are the most destructive leaders in South Africa? No doubt many leaders come to mind such as Mr. Ramaphosa, Adriaan Basson, Rebekah Davis, Daniel Corder and William Gumede. But for this piece I would like to focus on the anointed vision of John Steenhuizen and Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh.

John Steenhuisen

John Steenhuisen, leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) and current minister of agriculture, has repeatedly framed dissenting claims as deliberate distortions and misinformation.

In a February 2025 media briefing, he accused Piet Le Roux of spearheading “a public campaign of misinformation and distortion,” insisting that allegations of his role in creating “AgriBEE” and transformation funds were false. By labeling Le Roux’s claims as falsehoods, he frames his own narrative as the only credible one. Steenhuizen ignores contrary evidence. A fool’s errand!

Another example of Steenhuizen’s anointed vision is observed by his frequent use of crisis language. In 2024 Steenhuizen claimed a so-called “doomsday coalition” saying that a partnership between the ANC and more radical parties like the EFF would spell economic calamity.

Some say that he was right in using such crisis language, but I am not sure of this. I wonder whether we were spun a crisis narrative for political reasons and not for the interest of the people groups living in South Africa.

Then ahead of the 2025 State of the Nation Address, Steenhuisen warned that “unless the GNU urgently implements policies that drive economic growth and enable job creation, South Africa will fail. The hopes, livelihoods and security of the South African people are on the line.” What he does here is set the GNU up as our salvation.

In both these examples, the crisis language seeks to portray the political moment as existential, leaving little space for moderation or delay, justifying more government intervention. This is precisely what Sowell means when he talks about the way those with the anointed vision speak. It is not only misleading, but destructive in the long run. Shame on Steenhuizen and the DA for not correcting him.

Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh

Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh, a lecturer at WITS and host of SMWX, regularly uses crisis language when diagnosing South Africa.

In his book, The New Apartheid, Mpofu-Walsh argues that while the formal apartheid may have ended, is was succeeded by a system that is privatised, decentralised, a self-replicating vestige of the apartheid state. He claims that apartheid did not die; it was privatized.

What he does in the book is to make the various tribes of Southern Africa think that they are still living under a form of apartheid. This type of crisis language makes people think that any form of privatization or decentralization is existential to their existence. This leaves little space for dialogue and can be easily used to justify not only more government oversight, but also the most heinous of crimes.

By radicalizing people through crisis language, this book, if taken seriously by leaders in South Africa, will have long term destructive consequences. Perhaps this is exactly what he wants? Or perhaps he is captured by ideology? Either way crisis language is then used to justify more government oversight because of the so-called privatised apartheid.

From my reading, Mpofu-Walsh fits Sowell’s anointed vision to the T. Not only does he use crisis language to portray the political moment as existential, justifying government intervention, he also considers so-called “justice” a solution to real-world problems. Sowell makes it very clear that what we call social and environmental justice are not solutions to real-world problems. Infact what we call “justice” is destructive in the long run because it is devoid of wisdom. The tradeoffs are too great and our grandchildren will regret it!

While considering the state of the leadership in South Africa I am left with a question, who then should we following? Thankfully Sowell gives us an answer.

Follow those with the constrained vision

The tragic vision sees human nature as imperfect and limited, recognizing that trade-offs and unintended consequences are inevitable in policies. It accepts that no solution is perfect and that attempts to engineer utopia will lead to new problems. This vision emphasizes humility, caution, and learning from history’s lessons, valuing freedom and order even if the outcomes are sometimes flawed or tragic.

Find and follow these people.