Welcome to Matookestan where prevention is bad for business

There is an African proverb that says a bridge is repaired before someone falls into the river.

That proverb was clearly not written in Matookestan. Here, we have our own version.

A bridge should only be repaired after someone falls into the river. Otherwise, how will anyone know it really needed fixing?

Welcome to Matookestan, the land where wisdom is read, admired, quoted... and then totally ignored.

Take our proverbs, for example.

The rest of the world says prevention is better than cure. In Matookestan, prevention is a terrible waste of opportunity. Cure is far better. Prevention creates no emergency procurements, no supplementary budgets no task forces, no commissions of inquiry, no ribbon-cutting ceremonies. Prevention is terribly boring.

The rest of the world says, a stitch in time saves nine. In Matookestan, nine stitches are much better than one. Think of the meetings, allowances, consultants, procurement of wrong threads. Think of the reports explaining why the first stitch could not possibly have happened on time.

The rest of the world says, fix the roof while the sun is shining. In Matookestan, absolutely not! Wait until the rainy season. Let everyone get soaked first. The photographs are far more convincing when buckets are catching water inside the classroom. Besides, emergency roofing sounds much more important than maintenance and there's opportunity to steal ironsheets. 

The rest of the world says, don't wait until the well runs dry. Matookestan respectfully disagrees. A dry well is an opportunity. There can be emergency meetings and emergency funding for the dry well. Emergency workshops on sustainable dry-well management. Someone will even launch a strategic framework for future wells.

The rest of the world says, better safe than sorry. In Matookestan, sorry is far more useful. With it comes with condolences, televised speeches, Twitter posts, Webinars, talk shows, and hashtags. Safety has none of those things.

Government works a little differently here too because nothing is urgent until it becomes a traged. This is where Matookestan truly shines.

Watch closely. Within hours there will be statements. Within a day there will be visits. Then committees, investigations, task forces, independent inquiries, emergency budgets, etc. Experts will appear on TV. Politicians will appear at the scene wearing sneakers.

Everyone will promise accountability. Everyone will assure us that this must never happen again. The bridge will finally be repaired. One cannot help wondering whether the bridge required concrete... or a funeral.

That is the strange economy of Matookestan. Maintenance is expensive and disaster is priceless. It feeds headlines and fills conference rooms. It justifies new budgets and creates urgency where there should have been responsibility and accountability.

Then the laughter fades, because outside satire, people really do lose fathers, mothers, children, friends.

The cracks on the bridge almost always existed before the collapse. Someone noticed them and wrote a report. I am almost certain a concern was raised.

In as much as you won't find Matookestan on any map, it appears wherever prevention is ignored, warnings are rejected, public office becomes more about privilege than stewardship, and action only begins after grief of tragedy.

From where my feet are, I don't think we lack what it takes. We are just too selfish and short-sighted to act while the bridge is still standing.