We need values, not sound bites

We can’t rely on ‘good’ politicians saying the right things. They must walk away from institutions they say offend

IN A time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act, it is said. And it reflects how we in South Africa are living the moment.

We have become a people who get excited every time someone – especially when that person has some relation to the ANC – says something that we already know and agree with.

The longer the association, the better; the longer the time served in prison or exile, even better.

This week it was ANC parliamentary chief whip Jackson Mthembu and Rivonia treason trialist Andrew Mlangeni’s turn to excite our passions.

Mthembu said the ANC NEC must step down because the party had regressed under its watch.

Mlangeni said President Zuma was sinking the ANC and the country’s economy.

Even those who do not agree with Mlangeni or Mthembu would know that these are not exactly novel observations.

Yet they excite us. We feel like we are closer to arresting the decline our country is heading towards because finally someone has said something.

I am afraid this kind of excitement is like a party drug. It is great to lift our mood and make us think we are invincible for the time being, but we will be back to our normal selves the next morning.

At the time of writing, I had not seen anyone question Mlangeni’s right to comment about the ANC leadership.

I suppose being among the first ANC leaders to literally put their necks on the line at the Rivonia treason trial gives Mlangeni licence to speak his mind on any matter related to the ANC or the country.

Many of Mthembu’s own comrades have asked: “Why now?” The question is not irrelevant or an attempt to distract attention.

Mthembu has been in the leadership of the ANC for a long time.

He has served as an MEC in Mpumalanga and as ANC spokesman.

He (in)famously coined the chant “Don’t buy City Press, don’t buy …” when that newspaper decided to publish the “Spear” painting showing President Zuma’s genitals.

It is therefore interesting to find out what could have sparked this Damascus moment and imbued Mthembu with the spirit of revolutionary morality we see.

It is also worth noting that Mthembu’s language seems to suggest that change needs to happen to keep the ANC in power, rather than as an introduction of new, positive values of public leadership.

It is as if the wrongs he sees would not matter if they did not affect the electoral fortunes or misfortunes of his party.

That is why whatever the answer to what motivates Mthembu or Mlangeni might be, it will not help the ANC, the government or even South African society going forward to dwell on these.

We have become a sound bites nation and this must stop. We need to be a values nation.

Like Mthembu, sound bites make the newspaper front pages and top stories on TV, but within days their “bravery” is forgotten and we return to the normal life of politicians doing as they please in the belief that their power to dispense patronage, or their powerful friends, will protect them.

Moved

We have to change the sound bites narrative because it is dependent on human beings feeling sufficiently moved to speak out.

It is thus an unreliable ally for positive change, because nobody ever knows when someone thought to have any gravitas will say something profound, and if they do, why they are saying it.

We need to replace the sound bite system with a values system and institutions that have the respect of the citizens.

For whatever faults or criticism one might have for the US or British political systems, they have made shame and dishonour hard currencies. Once a politician is associated with a shameful act, they do not need to be told by anyone that they must leave the building.

This system works because the voters and not the politicians set the rules of engagement.

The elected know that they serve at the pleasure of the voters and not their political superiors.

South Africa can only get there if the voters start to see themselves as the bosses and not the servants.

We have to get to a situation where a Jackson Mthembu makes the news because he has left the office because they do not want to be attached to the shame it carries, rather than him making the news for telling us what we frankly already know.

We cannot rely on “good” politicians saying the right things. They must walk away from those institutions that they say offend their sense of what is right and just.

If they don’t, they are just good for the next edition’s paper and bulletin.

We must turn things around and change this from being an era of deceit to one of courage and convictions.

We have to get to a time when standing up and walking away from what is wrong, and not merely naming it, is the revolutionary act.

@fikelelom