Dear friends and fellow South Africans,
In his recently published book "A Nation in Crisis: An Appeal for Morality", Professor Paulus Zulu laments that whenever we open a newspaper in South Africa we are confronted with another instance of corruption or another gaffe by senior officials. This speaks, he says, of the moral degeneration in our political sphere that threatens to reverse the gains of democracy.
I will be speaking at the launch of Professor Zulu's book in Johannesburg next week, for this is an issue close to my heart. Aside from my deep concerns about corruption, I fear that the gaffes so frequently made by senior officials are indicative of more than just incompetence and poorly judged appointments.
Certainly the practice of cadre deployment has fostered an environment in which political gaffes proliferate. But we should do more than shake our heads in bemused incredulity whenever a government spokesperson or senior official makes a statement that contradicts our constitutional values.
We need to question whether such statements are genuinely underpinned by racism, or antagonism to democracy, or the notion that the ANC is above the law or above reproach and questioning.
President Zuma's off-the-cuff remarks at Wits University this week as he tried to defend the eToll system should not be brushed aside by the presidential spin doctors. In pointing out that Johannesburg is the financial hub of South Africa, the President said, "This is not some national road in Malawi". Reinforcing his meaning, he said, "We cannot think like Africans in Africa..."