A Crisis Of Leadership, A Clear Need For Us To RISE

One of the core functions of the government is to leverage its resources to deliver services to the People. The Executive comprises the accounting officers of these functions, accountable for operationalising the Government’s plan. In South Africa, that plan comes from the governing party’s manifesto and conference resolutions. The Executive and its members should be held to the highest standard of performance. Failure to achieve results should lead to citizens mobilising for political change through the use of democratic means.?

State institutions are vital organs of the state, tasked with providing governance and oversight, maintaining law and order, protecting citizens’ rights, and ensuring the provision of basic services to the population. They are the engines of scaled impact across stakeholders and beneficiaries. The State is heavily responsible for maintaining the institutions of government. Asa matter of fact, the current condition of all major state institutions is deplorable. They are ghosts of their former selves and therefore fail to deliver the core objectives of the government. Some are in such a tragic state, that they can never be revived again. So now, ask yourself, in any other self-respecting organisation that is committed to its shareholders and customers, would this performance be tolerated? Just take a look at the major national state-owned enterprises that are always in need of bailouts and cannot meet their core business obligations. How is it that Minister Pravin Gordhan(who is so violently allergic to accountability) still has his job, when one very account and measure he has failed at his job. I dare you to name one shining example of his contribution to the ministry of public enterprises.

On a related matter, if you do a random survey during conversations over a braai amongst family, friends, and colleagues (if you’re lucky enough to have work), the likelihood is that feeling safe and being able to provide for one’s family is at the apex of priorities. At the State level, safety is an accelerator of creating an enabling environment fit for economic prosperity, global connectedness, and social stability. Safety creates trust and maintains people's mental health and happiness, allowing them to move and work freely. And yet, another high-placed individual, the Minister of Police, has failed to do his job and simply relies on theatrics for social relevance. This has depreciated the quality of living across all sectors of life. Crime is at an all-time high and getting worse. It is one of the biggest contributors to capital flight (human, financial, intellectual, social), which means the country is poorer for it, on top of a failed domestic economic programme yielding high unemployment, inequality, and poverty. But Minister Bheki Cele remains comfortable in his position.?

A cabinet reshuffle offers the President an opportunity to strengthen the Executive by bolstering leadership where there are gaps; reprioritising government efforts to areas requiring attention; sending a message to stakeholders and citizens about intentions and expectations; and setting the tone for the future ahead. Like other professional spaces, performance management is a critical tool for ensuring that those tasked with targets and goals are kept honest and held accountable. Using performance management and the mechanism of a cabinet reshuffle, the President can make significant and visible changes, which will bring about confidence and clarity.

Despite the powers vested in his office, and the opportunity a reshuffle provides for wholesale but meaningful change, our President this week made only cosmetic changes to his Cabinet, failing to rise to the occasion. The President has demonstrated absence from his duties. By having a new minister dedicated to planning, monitoring and evaluation, we are made to believe that performance and evaluation are key pillars to turning things around, driving success and prioritising performance and service delivery. However, the President keeps Pravin Gordhan and Bheki Cele in Ministerial roles, showing South Africans that he really doesn’t care about the People or hold anyone accountable. Monday’s non-event of a cabinet reshuffle was a slap in the face for those who have been impacted by failed institutions and have been victims of crime. By failing to rise, President Cyril Ramaphosa is a perpetrator of violence against his own people.

Monday’s cabinet reshuffle was a scam, a deflection, and a distraction. In 2024, South Africans go to the polls to vote. The shifting political terrain suggests that next year, the People will vote differently, unleashing a change to the political terrain and a possible reconfiguration of government. The Minister of Electricity, no matter how impressive he is, is not guaranteed his job post-2024, nor can we be convinced that he (and his other colleagues in new portfolios) will have enough time to make an impact.

If we call a spade a spade, this ANC-led administration is a sham and an epic failure. For decades, it has been unable to unshackle itself from practices that have weakened its ability to govern and damaged our prospects as a bourgeoning and thriving African country. We have lost so many years of potential and possibility. Our so-called leaders continue to prioritise ANC factional “unity” above South Africa’s collective prosperity. We don’t get those years back. And so, we must look to the future now.?

Fellow South African, I ask you…what will it take for you to see that this ANC-led government lacks the leadership, imagination, moral authority, and energy to shift us into the future? What will it take to show you that a Pentium 2 cannot deliver you into a world of robotics, AI, and machine learning? What will it take to show you that the toxic political relationships of the governing party prioritise the ANC before the interests of the People?

Even if they cared, this crop of leaders just doesn’t have what it takes to make South Africa a great country to live, work and play in. Time has run out. The next 30 years of South Africa’s path must be defined by a new collective of leaders. They are among us. We eat, dance, cry, work, and pray with them. They are not superheroes who wear capes and drive in blue lights. You find them in the spaces where we work, and their contribution is significant. They are capable, passionate, intelligent, beautiful, and compassionate. They deliver. They are US. Given a chance to make a difference to people’s lives through the State, they would do it. But they haven’t because the culture and structure of politics are violent and vulgar.

The tide is now turning. The great awakening to citizen power is happening. And frankly, we’ve just had enough and waited too long. The cost of doing nothing is too high. And so now we must act, we must now RISE.

The only way to hold a failing Cyril Ramaphosa, Bheki Cele, Pravin Gordhan and ANC to account is with the VOTE. They cannot hold themselves accountable, so the voters must do the work.

?2024 is our 1994 and we are most certainly the ones we’ve been waiting for.?

Matla le Lerato.

Tebogo Moalusi

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Tebogo Moalusi is a member of the Rise Mzansi NationalCoordinating Team