South Africa’s biggest threat is career politicians who are only interested in their own pockets and getting more power

Willie Spies, the Freedom Front Plus’s (FF+’s) mayoral candidate for the Tshwane Metro, said South Africa’s biggest threat is career politicians running the country.

He explained that career politicians, who have not worked in the private sector, are mainly interested in lining their own pockets and gaining more power.

Spies shared his thoughts on South Africa’s current political landscape and its future during a Truth Report podcast.

He is a respected politician and legal expert who has worked in the private sector as a top lawyer for the past 17 years.

Outside his legal work, Spies is a prominent figure at his alma mater, the University of Pretoria, where he served as chairperson of the Tuks Alumni Board.

He said South Africa needs more good people from the private sector in the country’s political space.

“I am concerned about the fact that politics is increasingly becoming dominated by career politicians,” he said.

“These are people who entered politics immediately after school, or those who went to university and went into politics immediately after university.”

He explained that the downside of having career politicians in charge is that they are not in touch with civil society.

“Those are people who are not in touch with the reality of waking up every day and making a living from the talents that you’ve received,” he said.

“They are people who got elected either as councillors, as members of the legislature, or as Members of Parliament, and that’s their only frame of reference.”

Spies said that South Africa’s greatest threat is career politicians who are not well-equipped and out of touch with civil society and the communities they represent.

“Many of these politicians are only in it to line their own pockets and to protect their own political careers,” he said.

“You have career politicians in South Africa who have nothing else to fight for but their own political careers.”

“This is the reason the deep state phenomenon starts to develop, and that is what we need to fight in South Africa.”

Spies argued that South Africa needs a small state that focuses on protecting its people and fighting crime.

“At the municipal level, it’s the same, but it includes services such as sanitation, water, electricity, and rubbish removal,” he said.

“That’s what a municipality is all about. It’s not rocket science at all. But if it starts to get dominated by career politicians, it does not happen.”

He said that career politicians do not get to the answers because they are more focused on nurturing their own positions and careers going forward.

South African political leaders and their previous careers