Accountability lacking in the ANC
Joint decision making
“THERE is an absence of democratic accountability and control in every sphere of government and the state. To address this debilitating legacy requires determined action and a deep commitment to transforming our society from a crisis-ridden present into something all South Africans can be truly proud of.” Does this sound true today? These are the words of Nelson Mandela penned some 15 years ago. And nothing seems to have changed in South Africa since then.
In fact our country has regressed under the weak and ineffectual leadership of the present regime.
The ANC’s collaborative decision-making process means it collectively make a choice from the alternatives before it. The final decision can then no longer be accountable to any individual.
This lack of personal accountability will surely feature as one of the main reasons for the demise of a once glorious revolutionary movement when the expiration of the ANC is analysed in our history books in time to come. Another reason is the lack of educated decision makers in the ANC to take the party forward.
Future leaders who have had the privilege of university and other tertiary study are enlightened and not swayed by insular party rhetoric, and thus find it impossible to reconcile themselves to the corruption and self-seeking interests of a regime who have placed “the ANC first and South Africa second” (our president’s own words). And so the country and its parastatals are, and will be run by ignoramuses – the fall-outs of a collective management style producing the lowest common denominator as it were.
Our president’s lack of education shows every time he opens his mouth. And he has surrounded himself with the likes of Cloudy Hlaudi (Motsoeneng), who was put in charge of the nation’s broadcasting corporation and, believe it or not, with a forged matriculation certificate as his highest qualification! If it were not so utterly soul destroying it must be so laughable as to be beyond comprehension!
Remember the pathetic picture of our president when he was recently facing parliament? Arms akimbo in a pitiful gesture, he adroitly avoided accountability and wryly lamented, “Don’t blame me for Nenegate!”.
Regrettably, the lack of accountability our president and his sycophants have set for our country has permeated all walks of life. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander!
Maggots in the wounds of a patient in Livingstone Hospital (“Maggots shock for PE hospital patient”, January 4) is something so grotesque and vile one cannot believe that this could happen in a national hospital in a supposedly civilised country. It is surely impossible to sink any lower!
What a sorry state of affairs we portray to the rest of the world.
But again, nobody seems to be accountable. If Livingstone Hospital’s chief executive, Thulane Madonsela, has any moral conscience he will resign.
As chief executive, he is accountable for the appalling state of his hospital, the buck stops with him.
Will the ANC’s method of collective responsibility once again prevail and nobody be held accountable? It will be interesting to see if:
ý Madonsela resigns or is fired;
ý The doctors who did the ward rounds are fired. (Heaven forbid a scenario where no ward rounds took place!)
ý The South African Medical Council investigates the doctors’ culpability with the view of having them struck off the roll; ý The matron is fired; ý The nurses are fired; ý The South African Nursing Council does an investigation with a view to striking the nurses off the roll.
Nothing short of these drastic measures will restore any credibility in our medical services.
And then on the front page of The Herald of January 6 is a pathetic picture of Education MEC Mandla Makupula taken during the matric results briefing in East London with a caption “Who’s to blame?”. Once again another year has passed: same old pathetic performance, same old humiliating bottom of the list, same old worst performer in South Africa, same old faces, same old excuses and same old lack of accountability.
How long must one tolerate this year after year state of affairs? To deny a young child the opportunity of education is in my mind synonymous with murder.
It is surely time the present education incumbents, both local and national, including our Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, are held accountable and fired from their cushy jobs, flashy motorcars and immunity from any (and yes, the same old word) “accountability”!
And so on . . . That our parliamentary speaker, Baleka Mbete, with a deprecating shrug of her shoulders condescendingly declares on national television that yes, mistakes have been made and yes, “we accept” that we have made mistakes is as close to accountability the ANC cadres are capable of. Note whenever Mbete or her fellow ANC bigwigs speak, the royal “we” is inevitably used.
With other words, “blame us, don’t blame me!”.
Some years ago Thomas Paine wrote, “A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody!” The ANC would be well advised to remember these words and those of Mandela when they again enter into their collaborative decision-making jamboree.
But don’t hold your breath. Leopards don’t change their spots.
The ANC will true to character again resort to determining the lowest common denominator and once again hatch a sure recipe for failure!
Talbot Cox, Schoenmakerskop, Port Elizabeth