ANOTHER VOICE murray swart Note the passing seconds

AS A NATION, we will never achieve our goals until we lower our standards and expectations. With this in mind, I would like to make a plea to each and every South African to take it easy on our leaders.

There is a widespread consensus that we are governed by the best and brightest among us who have been put into positions of authority through popularly-approved structures and selection processes.

In order to weed out mediocrity, whopping salaries are offered to public servants to lure the cream of the crop from the private sector to a life of servitude.

These seductive salaries come out of the pockets of the taxpayers, who work tireless to earn a paycheque, less deductions, in order to support officials who work effortlessly for theirs.

Considering that a substantial portion of our hard-earned income literally disappears from our accounts before it is even deposited in the first place, just to ensure that those who represent us are as out of touch with average South Africans as fiscally possible, one can be forgiven for resenting politicians’ “no work and all pay” lifestyles.

Especially while for many of us who are fortunate enough to have gainful employment, survival has become a case of all work and no play with marginally more than theoretical pay.

All things considered, it’s easy and justified to be of the opinion that our best and brightest bureaucrats be held to a higher standard.

Surely, to warrant perks that the average voter can only dream about, while living in the lap of luxury, the least they can do is serve the people that put them in power.

Is it really too much to ask to expect the promise makers to be the promise keepers? Should being a role-model not be a higher priority than driving the latest model?

When were words like honesty, integrity, sincerity, transparency and objectivity relegated to the glossary of political science textbooks, only to be misused and mispronounced in manipulative messages intended to mislead the masses?

The answers to these questions are yes, yes and around the time Adam developed a conscience.

It would be naive to confuse what should happen with what actually does and to expect politicians to be truthful, honest, ethical and noble is simply unrealistic.

Don’t get me wrong, these are all sought-after traits that most elected officials attest to possess, but these claims are as hollow and empty as the stomachs of the most desperate members of their constituencies.

Therefore, don’t ask too much of our best and brightest because you will be disappointed.

Instead, all we should ask for is punctuality.

We may not be able to expect our leaders to be perfect but we certainly can demand that they be on time.

This might sound like a rather trivial and inconsequential demand but there is a lot you can tell about a person by how they approach an appointment.

For one thing, if a person can’t be punctual, they can’t really be relied upon and if they cannot be relied upon, can they really be trusted?

Politicians are infamous for keeping crowds waiting and the sooner we realise that a person who isn’t concerned about wasting your time, values themselves ahead of those they are meant to serve, the better.

Besides, gauging someone’s honesty, integrity and ethics is tricky since these are concepts with little tangible evidence.

However, keeping tabs on timing is as simple as noting the passing seconds.