SA needs more than the fleeting influence of Strong Men. We need leaders who are committed to change, says Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya.
Pretoria - It was always coming – the call for Bheki Cele to return as the top national cop. South Africa has for a long time been nurturing its need for a Strong Man not only to deal with crime but to restore some semblance of orderly life back to South Africa.
Our country has been losing its moral compass for a while. By this I do not mean religious or cultural morals, but basic decency and a sense of shame when you are found out to have offended society.
For example: people who do not have certain educational qualifications should not go around claiming they do. It is about knowing that if you are not skilled at sign language interpretation, you do not embarrass the country and yourself by claiming the biggest stage.
Parliament has become a joke. It is not just because EFF members choose to dress in overalls, bang tables and walk out at every available opportunity, or that the majority party indulges in an elaborate simulation designed to arrive at a predetermined decision that the president did not personally benefit from his Nkandla home’s security upgrade.
If we had any order and respect for rules, ANC MPL in the North West legislature Ontlametse Mochware would not have availed herself to be sworn in as MEC for social development when she and her party knew she had no business being there.
Even better, the ANC that correctly decries the degeneration of rules of engagement in the national legislature, would have been equally incensed by their cadre’s contempt for the office and the legislature.
In many ways, the attitudes on our roads are a perfect snapshot of the nation we have become. We cut corners, break every rule in the book as long as there is no cop or camera around the corner; are intolerant of others and instead of sticking to our own lanes and keeping to our own speed, we are obsessed with overtaking others as if there’s a prize for who gets wherever first.
The Bring Back Bheki Cele campaign, coming as it does before Cele’s application for a review of Judge Jake Moloi’s decision that made him lose his job in the first place, is not just clamour for the person but for anyone regardless of their own flaws, who will just make sure that the bad guys are put in their place.
Coincidental with the Bring Back Cele campaign is the obsession with medals the current national police commissioner does not have.
This medals story also astounds. What have the men – it was always the men – with medals ever done for the fight against crime? When was South Africa, not just some parts of South Africa, crime-free as a result of the men with medals?
Those making the noise about medals are part of the narrative that situates crime out of the social and economic construct that it takes place.
They think that men with medals, or with a fiery oratory style will solve the problem that is in fact created by a society that worships material and dispenses respect and honour along the lines of who has what but does not give everyone the opportunity to acquire that “what”.
Equally nonsensical is that the police need someone who will raise their moral e. Really?
Why stop with police officers? Can you, dear reader, get away with a poor performance on the basis that your boss did not inspire you to do your best?
While at it: why not get teachers to demand that they too get an Adolf Hitler-style orator boss before they can stay in class and teach all day. Point is: professionals should not need gimmicks to do what they are paid to do.
If they do not have the energy to do what they are already paid to do, then they must go and find something else that agrees with their mood.
It is not a miracle that criminals almost always emerge from the downtrodden in society. It is inevitable.
So you can jail as many as you wish – unless you go to the real roots of crime and create different opportunities for the youngsters who generation after generation find crime a far more attractive proposition than a boss who will pay them no more than they need to feed themselves and travel to work. That is if they are lucky.
So whatever your views regarding whether Cele must return to his old job might be, it is important that we do not miss the wood for the trees. It is important to remember that no single man, no matter his personal charisma, can sort out societal problems that are as complicated as South Africa’s.
What South Africa, not just the crime situation, needs is men and women with a commitment to eradicating the sources of what keeps us from fulfilling our individual and national potential. History has taught that Strong Men are only an answer for the moment but never for the long haul.
* Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya is executive editor of the Pretoria News. Follow him on Twitter @fikelelom
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