Our future is at stake

IN 1961, US president John F Kennedy sent a special message to the Congress on Conflict-of-Interest Legislation and Problems of Ethics in Government which should be of great interest to us.

He began by observing “no responsibility of government is more fundamental than the responsibility of maintaining the highest standards of ethical behaviour by those who conduct the public business”.

He underscored this by stating categorically “there can be no dissent from the principle. All officials must act with unwavering integrity, absolute impartiality and complete devotion to the public interest”.

He understood, being the consummate politician he was, the principle he was enunciating had to “be followed not only in reality but in appearance” as well, because perception in politics is everything.

Clearly, “the basis of effective government is public confidence”, and most certainly as soon as “that confidence is endangered” because ethical standards have faltered, law and order will break down and criminality become widespread.

That is what we are now witnessing. There’s something so rotten in the state of South Africa at present that the good are under perpetual siege from those who are greedy, self-seeking, violent and lacking in all moral scruples.

Kennedy’s dictum for believable government, made 56 years ago, will therefore resonate with most of us in South African society today. Venal conduct is everywhere. Both the public and the private sectors are infected and afflicted. Big global names like KPMG, SAP, McKinsey and most recently Steinhoff have had their reputations besmirched in the same way as President Jacob Zuma, several ministers and many senior state officials.

Believable government, in the public and private sectors in South Africa, is lacking.

Integrity and probity, so highly prized in the Mandela presidency, are now a faded memory and abandoned aspirations. In the circumstances, far-reaching laws which uphold ethics in the government, insist on greater transparency and compel extensive and visible accountability have to be promulgated for the protection of the South African state and its people.

That which was a growing challenge to the Americans 56 years ago is now a steep challenge for us too.

Our very future is at stake. Collusion, conspiracy and corruption have, to use Kennedy’s words, “gravely multiplied the risk of conflicts of interest” and made state capture open season for all.

We too have to respond with extremely tough laws to keep venality and abuse of power in check and stop every future president from becoming a “constitutional delinquent”.