Pandemic presents leaders with a moral and ethical dilemma

● Leaders have to make decisions during difficult times: this is the burden of responsibility that those who are tasked to lead communities, businesses and the government have to carry at this time. In the Covid-19 pandemic we must make decisions about whether or not to open our churches and schools, how best to get the economy going and growing and generally how to ensure that we can safely go about our lives.

These decisions have widespread implications for us individually and also for the communities around us. For instance, the decision to open a preschool in a community will likely endanger the lives of the beloved elderly in that very community as it raises the risk of Covid-19 infections for those most at risk.

Similarly, as the pandemic forms large clusters of infections in the Johannesburg, Tshwane, Cape Town and Durban metros, the decision to redeploy the taxi services, on which millions of South Africans rely, has raised the risk of outbreaks of such scale that our health systems become overwhelmed.

A balancing act

As leaders, we have to balance the short-term need for education, livelihoods in the economy and personal freedoms to continue, together with the long-term interests of protecting the lives of the vulnerable, such as the elderly and those burdened with other diseases. This is difficult to do in a country with such levels of inequality and deprivation as ours. Close proximity in our human settlements and low access to water and hygiene facilities compound the situation.

This is by nature a conundrum — an ethical and moral dilemma, with which we have to struggle as leaders. As much as we might care for our people, our communities and our constituencies, the choices we are faced with have only stark alternatives.

However, the burden of leadership is precisely to approach these decisions with compassion, with wisdom and with due care taken to listen to all the advice at our disposal. As the foundational texts of my faith say: “In a multitude of counsellors there is safety.” That is to say, we must recognise the wisdom to be gleaned from consultation, rather than taking draconian decisions from a place of arrogance and myopia.

As we choose whether to open our schools amid the threat of Covid-19 or keep them closed, or whether to permit free movement across the country, and how to manage the pandemic, we need to recognise the immense value of taking personal responsibility.

It is impossible for the government, or for a church leader or business leader for that matter, to appreciate the unique circumstance of every citizen, every member or each employee. What are their personal preferences in terms of risk-taking? What are the personal health complications, or the risk factors they foresee in their family network or community? Only individuals can make a thorough

Covid-19 has placed great strain on people, who feel drained, stressed and uncertain about their future

assessment of these matters and decide what the appropriate course of action is for them. Leaders must create the conditions and guiding principles, the guardrails as it were, to support the decision-making.

Our duty though towards the collective can never be absolute. We must recognise the power and principle of trusting people to figure out the optimal path in the face of obstacles, of tragedy, difficulty and despair. Our progress as a country over the decades has been a testament to this feature of our character as a people.

This is part of why we have embedded democratic principles down to the level of school governing bodies in the tiers of government — we value the adaptability which comes from self-determination. In matters of life and death, such as the pandemic, these democratic commitments are even more important.

The lockdown has placed great strain not only on material lives but also on the psyche of our nation. People feel drained, overstressed and uncertain about their future. As leaders, especially religious and community leaders, we need to respond to this need with compassion.

Now more than ever, as we see the peak of the pandemic nearing, we will be called upon to shoulder the burden of care for the heart and soul of our nation. Scientists are warning that we must expect an upward spiralling of Covid19 and non-Covid-19 deaths in the coming months. In some instances, the virus takes from us loved ones whose bodies respond badly to the infection, and in other instances, other diseases opportunistically benefit from the overall pressure on our health facilities and health workers and get the upper hand.

In countries where this has already happened, their morgues and burial facilities were overwhelmed and the unfortunate result was mass burials. Such thoughts conjure up very painful memories of worse times in our history but we must face these bad prospects head-on, with courage.

A need for compassion

These painful times ahead, which God willing we will avoid, will call for leaders of deep-seated compassion to step forward and carry the nation through the shadow of death — knowing that death is not an ending. This will not be a time to draw back but to lean into our roles as leaders and to carry hope into the hearts and homes of those affected.

It is the leaders who demonstrate most fully their humanity during this time who will arise as the true carriers of SA’s future. Some will come from unconventional places. Some will be our heroes, such as the frontline health-care workers. We will not forget their sacrifice but memorialise them in our lives — knowing that this too shall pass.

I appeal to South Africans to observe all the regulations and hygiene protocols put into place by our government. Above all, stay home, let us protect ourselves, our families and the people in our country. I pray that God will protect our country and her people. We must stand united in prayer and we shall overcome.

McCauley is the president of Rhema Family Churches and chairperson of the National Religious Leaders Council