Would the leader of the Republic please step forward?
I begin today’s Stokes’ Stage with a definition of leadership. Instead of reciting from my trusted Oxford Dictionary I turn to a quote attributed to Lao Tzu, a philosopher of ancient China and the person traditionally recognised as the founder of Taoism.
A more basic definition of leadership, courtesy a textbook definition on the online resource site wikipedia.org, is: “Leadership is the process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task.” Any of the pre-1994 African National Congress (ANC) leaders, for example, united their people in the common task of abolishing Apartheid. The question is whether this definition of leadership applies in the cutthroat world of South African politics today? Sadly, the answer is a resounding no! The individuals who occupy the most powerful seats in the land today owe their success to power and patronage rather than leadership. And when power and patronage become more important than honour and accountability, the nation suffers!
Power struggles create leadership vacuums
A focus on power and patronage sidelines true leaders and erodes democracy… The ruling party provides plenty of examples of this truth. For example, instead of allowing the electorate to recruit trusted and respected members of the community to important positions after an election, they are forced to accept names from a list of pre-qualified party cadres who have already “paid their dues”… And instead of relying on the population to elect a President – a handful of the party elite call the shots. Power rather than leadership resulted in the toppling of ex-President Thabo Mbeki – and will no doubt be President Jacob Zuma’s undoing too. Why? Because leadership built on power and patronage becomes increasingly unpredictable with time.
The current crop of connected politicians will not go down in history as great leaders… Instead of leading by example, instead of being accountable for their actions and inactions, and instead of walking a mile in our shoes, these guys are all about protecting their terrain… It appears survival in the current political system is about having more dirt on your opponent rather than securing more support at election time… Things are so bad that I doubt there is another country in the world with more of a ‘moral cloud’ hanging over “elected” officials than South Africa! Is this a harsh assessment of the country, 2011? I don’t think so.
Over the past decade the ruling party has provided a litany of case studies for anyone keen to write a thesis on leadership vacuums. Just look at a few of the major decisions our so-called leaders have taken in recent years. The Travelgate saga – something which would have seen a true leader fall on his sword from embarrassment – was simply swept under the carpet. There was no accountability – and once the storm passed, these leaders (sic) simply wrote off any debts that had not been paid back. One after the other claims of corruption and mismanagement are simply swept under the carpet… The arms deal, Oil-gate and any number of other abuses of public funds disappear into the ether of denial and delay. Even after the public protector issues damning reports against senior public servants, the leader of South Africa Inc fails to take decisive action.
Any decision would be better than this
It’s this refusal to act decisively that irks most. And it’s not only on issues of disciplining corrupt party cadres that our current crop of leaders fails. They cannot provide clear foreign or business policy guidance either. A case in point is the latest attempt by the Dalais Lama to visit South Africa… Government handled the issue by doing nothing – making no official comment – not issuing a Visa – and then disingenuously blaming the religious leader for pulling out of his visit. This ineffectual leadership will tarnish South Africa’s reputation… According to the Reputation Institute South Africa the current logic in the public discourse is that economic advancement was put ahead of moral, human rights and democratic imperatives! They conclude that we denied access to a genuine leader: “Critical to our reputation as a nation is an emotional bond that people around the world have with us – and recent research has shown that the Dalai Lama is one of the most revered leaders on the planet.”
On the business front the ongoing battle against US-based retailer, Wal-mart, demonstrates this leadership vacuum perfectly. Government – at odds with its trade union allies prior to the deal – has suddenly come out all guns blazing after the fact. How can you approve something through your own Competitions Commission, and then try undoing it afterwards? And are the so-called leaders of the Departments of Agriculture, Economic Development and Industry justified in hounding an international company rather than focusing on achieving government’s long-term jobs growth targets? Their vindictiveness (because that’s what it is) is not leadership. Nor is their obsession with backing narrow trade union interests over the interests of the majority of non-unionised South African citizens.
Silence, subterfuge and a sea of mirrors
Through all of these crises the President of South Africa chuckles and nods – but never a word to address the myriad confusion this “do nothing” leadership elicits. Zuma hasn’t even provided leadership on the very important nationalisation debate. This “threat” hangs like a demolition ball over our fragile economy. How can he allow Julius Malema – an advert for leadership by power rather than for the people – state that nationalisation of the mines is a concluded matter? The ANC Youth League Leader is on record: “Mines should be nationalised. Nationalisation is concluded. I don’t understand the ANC process to be saying we are investigating nationalisation of mines. I understand the ANC process to be saying we are looking to get the best model for nationalisation!” Zuma, meanwhile, all smiles and giggles, assures the business community that nationalisation is not policy of the ANC… One of them is lying!
Editor’s thoughts: The current political leadership is too busy putting out fires and building power blocs to tackle the issues they should be addressing. But things aren’t likely to improve until the political elite shift from their power and patronage leadership style to one of walking in the people’s shoes… Would you agree there is a leadership vacuum in South Africa at present? And who should be blamed? Add your comment below, or send it to gareth@fanews.co.za
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