IT’S ABOUT WHAT’S BEST FOR THE COUNTRY

THERE isn’t much joy in naming the growing list of miscreants who should by now have been answering serious questions either at the polls or in the courts of law. There is a visible reluctance to lift the seventh veil that will finally demonstrate our willingness to join the daily fight for good governance.

One leans towards the principles contained in the notions of ethics and morality. Often the two are used interchangeably and with some justification. Some sectors consider morality as something that’s personal and normative, whereas ethics is the standard of good and bad on a collective level.

Before I drown in the turbulent waters of polemics, let me state quite clearly that I am wrestling with our national dilemma in much the same way that I hope the President is.

John Lennon famously took a dig at his colleague and fellow musician, McCartney, by penning the acrid question: “How do you sleep at night?” This is not a frivolous question, in much the same way that this week’s column is not. The question can be rephrased as, “How can you live with yourself knowing what you know to be wrong.”

It is palpably evident that the President is torn between his roles as head of the state while also head of the ruling party.

This is a classic arena where ethics and morality demonstrate the differences that exist between them. This is the arena in which right-thinking people should examine their own individual notions of right or wrong and balance them with their notions of what is best for the country.

Loyalty to a party does not subsume one’s responsibility as a protector of a healthy national conscience. Arrogant individuals are making a meal of being named and shamed for unethical behaviour, yet they function under the indignation triggered by the inequities of the past.

This is a flawed morality that justifies a complete lack of ethics. I remember distinctly how a primary school teacher taught us the meaning of the rhetoric contained in “Unity is strength”.

This was a good moral lesson that demonstrated how personal pride required a willingness to know when the individual expectation has to stand aside to serve the national imperative.

So let us exemplify in a way that attempts a resolution. It is very clear that the President is delaying punitive measures against wrong done over three decades.

Attrition is seen as an unacceptable weakening of the political health of the nation. Recovering stolen money as a national ethic is not half as important as binding the nation under the principle of ethics. Selling off SOEs is not the obvious route to go. A collective farming of the expertise that resides in a nation of many different races should become mandatory.

Forward thinking should not depend on backward glances at previous injustice. There is no merit in pursuing equity based on “You used to have it good, now it’s our turn”.

The police force is pitiful in its failure to reduce crime. The courts of law have been diluted because individuals play the “human rights” game.

Indeed, when justice is seen to be done, it is often prostituted under many guises, including never-ending appeals and reviews. Certain high-flying politicians become critically ill within days of incarceration, only to benefit from human morality of compassion to strut their stuff as soon as they are released.

This is not a trashing of the ANC. They have an inalienable right to enjoy the rewards of their noble fight against humiliation and the violation of human rights.

But they were not the only ones who made sacrifices on various levels of commitment and intensity for a better world for our children. I want them to consider factions and fractures within a hegemonic racial hubris as time-consuming and useless.

Garner the expertise that surrounds you in so many shapes and forms. Make each individual proud and willing to serve. Be careful not to alienate the disadvantaged and the poor. Frantz Fanon has warned us about this danger.

Our unity should come from accepting our weaknesses and improving our strengths. Enough said.