South Africa in the Second Decade and Beyond: Prophecy & Perspective

Table of Contents

• Introduction

Section A: South Africa in the Development Age: A Prophecy

• Chapter 1: On Human Development
• Chapter 2: South Africa’s History & Post-Apartheid Governmental
• Challenges: A Look in the Mirror
• Chapter 3: Generational Succession
• Chapter 4: South Africa, Africa & the Nations of the World: Responsibility beyond our Borders
• Chapter 5: The Issue of Moral Reform
• Chapter 6: Effective Governance
• Chapter 7: The Question of Leadership

Section B: South Africa: Perspectives for Nation Building

• Chapter 1: Building a United South Africa
• Chapter 2: Reviewing Our Political Civilization in the 21^st Century - Searching for a New Political Frontier
• Chapter 3: Merging Political Deliverance and National Development: A Warning to Consider…!
• Chapter 4: Socio-Economism: Towards a Socially Compliant Economic Model
• Chapter 5: The Moral Regeneration Movement: A Timeous Pilgrimage for the Peoples of South Africa
• Chapter 6: HIV & AIDS: Intensifying Our Response
• Chapter 7: Homosexuality
• Chapter 8: Conclusion

Introduction

The spirit of this book is well captured in the words of our former President Nelson Mandela when he said, ‘we must, constrained by and yet regardless of the accumulated effect of our historical burdens, seize the time to define for ourselves what we want to make of our shared destiny’ (N.R. Mandela, State of the Nation Address:1994).

The issue of defining our destiny demands that we proactively and collectively rise up to describe not only the future that we see, but also the correct pathway that shall help us realise such a future.

Defining a future is therefore not without defining a process; for we must allow the nation’s vision to define and dictate upon our developmental process. This issue of defining a process must be accompanied by a disciplined leadership and followership; a leadership that is able to keep the nation within the constraints of an identified process.

In looking at research outcomes reflecting the general attitude and the level of optimism of the peoples of South Africa, with respect to the progress made in national development, our President responded by giving an appropriate interpretation of this present season of the nation as an Age of Hope.

The results obtained by Gallup International have been confirmed by a recent domestic poll conducted by Markinor. According to this poll, 65% of our people believe that the country is going in the right direction. 84% think that our country holds out a happy future for all racial groups. 71% believe that government is performing well.

With regard to the economy, late last month the Grant Thornton International Business Owners Survey reported that 80% of South Africa’s business owners are optimistic about the year ahead, making them the third most optimistic internationally. Again last month, the First National Bank and the Bureau for Economic Research reported that the consumer confidence index is at its highest in 25 years.

What all these figures signify is that our people are firmly convinced that our country has entered its Age of Hope. They are convinced that we have created the conditions to achieve more rapid progress towards the realisation of their dreams. They are certain that we are indeed a winning nation.

…And I dare say that essentially all of us are very familiar with what the people expect, which would confirm that they were not wrong to conclude that our country has entered its Age of Hope

The President further declared…

Clearly the masses of our people are convinced that our country has entered into its Age of Hope. They believe that the country they love, their only homeland, will not disappoint their expectation of an accelerated advance towards the day when they will be liberated from the suffocating tentacles of the legacy of colonialism and apartheid.

They are confident that what our country has done to move us away from our apartheid past has created the conditions for them to appropriate God’s blessing to the Prophet Isaiah:

For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out in peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

It is up to all of us, through our National Effort, to build a winning nation, to do all the things that will ensure that the mountains and the hills of our country break forth into singing before all our people, and all the trees of the field clap their hands to applaud the people’s season of joy (T.M. Mbeki: State of the Nation Address, 2006).

There is no doubt therefore that the people of South Africa find themselves in a time of great expectation in terms of the future. The past decade of freedom has fostered a new sense of hope within the nation. We have to continue to commend our freedom fighters, the government, government’s partners and the society at large for the great achievements of the past decade.

The Purpose of this Book

This present Age of Hope implies that as a nation, we find ourselves in a time where we must move decisively and speedily towards the full realisation of a new better South Africa. For such a speedily movement to occur, there must be a continuous practical outlining of developmental imperatives that must become signposts and building blocks in the crafting of the nation; and this summarises the purpose of this book. In keeping with the call to seize the time to define a shared destiny for the nation, which is a call to participate and contribute in defining a national roadmap, the book outlines and affirms already outlined developmental imperatives that must become and or remain a strategy for national development. Not only does it outline developmental imperatives but it also provides reasoning that should become the basis for the implementation of such imperatives.

The Architecture of the Book

The book is divided into two sections. SECTION A outlines a socio-economic developmental model for the nation of South Africa. The objective of this section is to contribute in the enhancing of the process of governance.

For ASGISA to succeed, it is clear that the machinery of state, and especially local government, should function effectively and efficiently. During the past year, our government has undertaken a detailed assessment to determine what we need to do to improve the capacity of our system of local government (T.M. Mbeki: State of the Nation Address, 2006).

These words by the President strongly imply that without an effective governance system, there can be no fulfilment of national agenda.

The strength of any effective governance system is not only in the availability of public finance but also in the quality of reasoning (philosophy or wisdom) that becomes the basis for the operations of such a system. We should therefore spend enough time defining and describing both the processes that should guide governmental supply chain and objectives (or national imperatives) that should guide government’s programme of action. This is precisely what Section A is addressing.

SECTION B provides some practical insight on some of the important issues that continue to be critical subjects of our national agenda. The objective of this section is therefore to contribute in the shaping of public opinion as well as in the formulation of policy and legislation, in relation to these issues that remain items of our national dialogue.

Important to state that this book does not give a complete picture of where the nation must go as this can only be achieved through collective wisdom. It does however provide an important piece of the puzzle that helps us see clearer where we need to go.

Understanding the Configuration of Section A

We have known that it would take considerable time before we could say we have eradicated the legacy of the past. We have expected that the circumstances handed down to us by our history would indeed condemn us to a ‘petty pace’ of progress towards the achievement of the goal of a better life for all.

And yet today, as I stand here to speak to the Honourable Members of our national, provincial and local legislatures, an important component part of our national political leadership, other echelons of that leadership, and our international guests, I feel emboldened to appropriate for our people the promise contained in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, when God said:

For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out in peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree…

…what has been achieved since Nelson Mandela delivered his first State of the Nation Address, and what we can do, given the larger resources that have since been generated, has surely given hope to the masses of our people, that it is possible for all Africa to hear the mountains and the hills singing before them (T.M. Mbeki: State of the Nation Address, 2006).

The Developmental Prophecy outlined (in SECTION A) is based on the prophetic writing of Isaiah (chapter 55), a section that became a constant quotation in the 2006 state of the nation address by our President.

SECTION A is therefore a product of an insightful and yet practical interpretation of Isaiah’s writing in the light of where the nation of South Africa must go. That is, section A is a customized insight for this present season of our nation; it is basically a prophetic response to the 2006 state of the nation address.

Socio-economic developmental imperatives have been identified with the purpose of providing a philosophical and yet practical approach that should take us into the second decade and beyond. As you look into these developmental imperatives, you will realise that most if not all constitute what our government, civil society, business and labour have identified as priorities for national development.

Isaiah’s prophetic writing

1"Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost.

2 Why spend money on what is not bread,

and your labour on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

3 Give ear and come to me;

hear me, that your soul may live.

I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

my faithful love promised to David.

4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,

a leader and commander of the peoples.

5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,

and nations that do not know you will hasten to you,

because of the LORD your God,

the Holy One of Israel,

for he has endowed you with splendor."

6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;

call on him while he is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake his way

and the evil man his thoughts.

Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,

and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,"

declares the LORD.

9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 As the rain and the snow

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

12 You will go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills

will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field

will clap their hands.

13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,

and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.

This will be for the LORD's renown,

for an everlasting sign,

which will not be destroyed." (Isaiah 55, the Bible).

____________________________________________

SECTION A

South Africa in the Development Age:

A Prophecy

1. On Human Development

"Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost.

2 Why spend money on what is not bread,

and your labour on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

In 1994, our former president Mandela (in his state of the nation address) firmly established a philosophical approach to building the nation when he declared a vision of creating a people-centred society.

A people-centred society speaks to us about the fact that the strength of the nation is in the quality of its citizens. An empowered citizenry is the only hope for real sustainable national development. We can aggressively mobilise infrastructural and technological resources, and engage economic growth; if we do not have an empowered citizen, we will continue to have crises.

‘Come all you who are thirsty’ is a statement that communicates a political and socio-economic will, philosophy and an environment that is people centred; an environment whose focus is the development and empowerment of its citizens. This environment prioritises human development and empowerment. It secures socio-economic growth by primarily investing in the lives of its people.

Similarly, and also as part of the national effort, the trade union movement and civil society as a whole face the challenge to translate into action the commitment they made with the other social partners at the Growth and Development Summit “to a common vision for promoting rising levels of growth, investment, job creation, and people-centred development” (T.M. Mbeki: State of the Nation Address, 2006).

A people-centred development must form part of the philosophical approach of our government and nation at large. Our socio-economic environment must not lock people out but must invite them for empowerment and development. South Africa must not grow outside of but through its people. If we celebrate economic growth when the lives of our citizens are crumbling, then our country is growing but outside of its people. If we celebrate economic growth when there is only a few elite that enjoys the benefits, then the country is growing but outside of its people. We need to differentiate between systemic economic growth and societal development. Systemic economic growth, where we are able to show off our fancy graphs with economic indicators going up, does not necessarily mean that we are experiencing societal development.

Economic growth must in fact be positioned to imply societal development; this implies the need to integrate economic systemic growth and societal development, where one means or affects the other. We have got to employ economic models that allow us to vigorously achieve economic growth but not without massive participation by, and therefore development of our citizens. Hence people need to be empowered to access the economy by themselves. People must not only have political rights to participate but also productive capacity (skills) to secure economic participation. A right that is not matched with empowerment is no right.

‘The Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa aims to half unemployment and accelerate economic growth. The youth and women should be the major beneficiaries of this as the sectors that are highly affected by unemployment…We must also pay a special attention to unemployed graduates and ensure that we place them in jobs through the Umsobomvu Youth Fund (UYF) and Standard Bank databases. Matriculants should also be assisted by way of re-opening of trade schools and by developing their entrepreneurial skills. We need to ensure that the youth are participating in numbers in Business Outsourcing Process (BOPs), information and communication technology (ICT) and tourism sectors. There are real opportunities for the youth in the development of township tourism as tour guides, language interpreters, participating in the development of souvenir businesses and ensuring the safety of tourists who come to our townships’ (Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka: Youth Sector Consultative Workshop, 2006).

These words by the Deputy President reveal the inherent nature of ASGISA (The Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa)² in as far as pursuing a people centred development. With effective implementation, initiatives like ASGISA, our socio-economic environment is heading towards the right direction as we are not only after big economic figures and upward sloping economic graphs, but also or primarily after massive human involvement and therefore human development.

The words of our former president Nelson Mandela continue to make sense; that we must be a people centred society.

Infrastructure, Technology & People: we must be able to strike a balance between these factors. Every infrastructural and technological development must be matched by an aggressive human development. If we cannot strike this balance, we make people strangers in their own land. When people (masses of people and not the elite) cannot interact with their own environment (i.e. if the environment is more advanced compared to its people) then people have become strangers in their own land.

We therefore must build environmental literacy, which is the ability of people to interact with their environment (i.e. technology, infrastructure, economic systems etc.). If we aspire to build a land that is characterised by various forms of technology and infrastructure, then we need to ensure that people can in fact interact with such an environment.

Research shows that only 16.8% Blacks finish secondary schooling, 18.5% Coloureds, 34.9% Indians & 40.9% Whites; with the total percentage of 20.4. When it comes to higher education, 5.2% Blacks make it through tertiary education, 4.9% Coloureds, 14.9% Indians & 29.8% Whites, with a total percentage of 8.4.¹

These figures imply that very few people understand the technicalities of finance, credit facilities (like credit cards) and other financial technicalities in the area of banking, as well as a credit-based shopping system that characterises South Africa’s retail industry (e.g. clothing, furniture etc.). This further implies that we still have many people who are environmentally illiterate; who therefore remain victims of ignorance based financial mistakes and false financial advices.

Environmental literacy goes beyond understanding English to understanding the configuration of the (political, socio-economic & business) systems that one lives in.

However language remains one of the important components of environmental literacy. ABSA ATMs are one of the good examples that we have, where people can transact in their own languages, this of course enhances understanding as language can be a huge barrier on this issue of environmental literacy.

If people do not have environmental literacy, then they will find it difficult to access their environment. We therefore must ensure that we empower the upcoming generation with environmental literacy.

People, and not infrastructure or technology, are the real drivers of national development. Infrastructure and technology are important support mechanisms but human beings or citizens must remain the core of national development.

In empowering people, we must be holistic in our approach and:

· Provide people with productive skills (through education and training) so that they can participate in the economic process.

· Provide people with social skills so that they can be able to work effectively in partnerships, for example: cooperatives demand this skill.

· Provide people with moral skills so that they handle success. Those serving in the public service must be found to be people of integrity, who are able to be faithful stewards of public finance. Businessmen must be empowered with moral competence so that their businesses can be sustained. It takes a working strategy to make profits; it takes moral competence to sustain such profits.

We need more education centres that focus on talent search, discovery and development. Youth must be encouraged now more than ever to identify and perfect their God-given talents. One such area that must be developed is Arts. As a nation we have a particular artistic wealth and role that are yet to be seen. And so we need to build mechanisms (schools) for this dimension of the nation to be unearthed. This is even more important now because we are seeing a steady global profiling of the South African movie industry. Movies like Tsotsi become the firstfruit of what we are yet to see on a larger scale in the future.

South African youth emerging with talent must be identified and trained on effective engagement of their talent, proper administration of their talent (sustaining of careers) and management of their lives, financial success and fame. We need to do this in order to prevent the destruction of this emerging talent base.

Our human development initiative must be characterised, among other things by accessibility to those who do not have economic means to access pricey educational programmes.

‘Those without money’ must be able to come and buy. This points or emphasises that class of our society that is economically disabled. And so the development of our nation, our fiscal drive, our economic process etc. must all continue to be sensitive to the needy. Both the government and business must continuously mobilise financial resources so that even the poorest of our nation is able to access education.

We will, of course, also make other interventions in the area of education and training. These include eliminating fees for the poorest quintile of primary schools, targeting 529 schools to double the Maths and Science graduate output to 50 000 by 2008, and re-equipping and financing the Further Education and Training Colleges’ (T.M. Mbeki: State of the Nation Address, 2006).

We have to continue building fiscal systems that channel financial resources to the poor; and the business must intensify social responsibility initiatives aimed at empowering the poor with socio-economic opportunities (e.g. sponsored or free education).

We have got to continue to build or create sources or centres of ‘waters, milk & bread’ for our nation. And these point to our resource centres. Places where people can come and be empowered. Institutions like Umsobomvu and other Social Welfare Centres are examples of what we need to see on an escalated scale; otherwise we will not be able to achieve our human development objectives.

In this year of the 30th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising, we shall ensure that the focus on youth development is intensified in all spheres of government. Among other things during the next financial year we will set up 100 new Youth Advisory Centres, enrol at least 10 000 young people in the National Youth Service Programme and enrol 5 000 volunteers to act as mentors to vulnerable children.

We will also expand the reach of our business support system to young people and intensify the Youth Co-operatives Programme. We will closely monitor the impact of our programmes on youth skills training and business empowerment as an integral part of our National Effort (T.M. Mbeki: State of the Nation Address, 2006).

If we continue to aggressively expand on human development, we shall surely receive the reward in the near future. Municipalities must also become more and more community development centres that don’t only provide service delivery but also strategic empowerment to their communities, because out of the three governmental spheres (national, provincial and municipal), municipalities are the closest to communities.

At the same time, we need to remove ‘that which is not bread’, ‘that which does not satisfy’; i.e. human development initiatives that do not bring any meaningful results in the lives of the people. This should be the case both in government and private sector based initiatives. Training and development initiatives that do not bring meaningful impact must be identified and removed. Perhaps what will help is for us to be disciplined in aligning our activities with our declared visions and goals, and only engage that which helps us achieve our agenda. That is, we must be a nation that is purpose as opposed to activity driven.³

Where there is no vision the people (or nation) scatter as they get lost in meaningless activity.⁴ A simple people (nation) lacking direction (agenda & purpose) & judgment (effective decision making) will always be victims of opportunistic deceivers and hunters, who have a promising image but cannot actually deliver their promises.⁵ These words lay down guidelines for us on issues of development both for the nation and organisations. If we don’t have a goal that we are pursuing, we will tend to consume useless irrelevant training and development programmes.

Hence we have got to identify (in relation to training), as to what type of citizen, public servant, employee & leader we are looking at producing, and align our education and training to those intents. This will help us easily sift and choose that which will add value; not forgetting that our human development strategy must give people moral competence, social competence, environmental literacy and productive capacity so that they can access the economy by themselves, securing sustainable participation.

Notes

¹ Figures taken from the book, State of the Nation (South Africa 2005 – 2006) by Human Science

Research Council: Table 8.5 of Page 216.

² ASGISA (The Accelerated & Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa) is a new socio-economic initiative of the government of South Africa to reduce poverty by ensuring a more accelerated and balanced or shared growth. To know more about ASGISA please check www.info.gov.za/asgisa/.

³ To be Purpose Driven is to firstly identify where you want to go and then engage only that activity that will help you arrive at your pursued destiny. Whereas to be Activity Driven is to be concerned only with immediate results without connecting these to a destiny that must be realised one day. Sometimes we can identity purpose and lock it in documents, only to find that in action, we are Activity Driven although we have a documented Purpose.

⁴ A paraphrased quotation from the Book of Proverbs 29:18 of the Bible

⁵ A paraphrased quotation of the Book of Proverbs 6:6-27 of the Bible

2. South Africa’s History and Post-Apartheid Governmental Challenges: A Look in the Mirror

3 Give ear and come to me;

hear me, that your soul may live.

I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

my faithful love promised to David.

4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,

a leader and commander of the peoples.

When we look at South Africa’s history and that of David (one of the kings of Israel whose kingdom started at about 1000BC), we discover that there are many similarities. King David’s political process (functioning under an oppressive government, going to exile, taking over governmental responsibility & rebuilding the nation) all find strong parallels in South Africa, whose history was characterised by oppression, political and socio-economic injustice, racism and struggle for freedom.

David is therefore like our historical twin; whose life helps us bring meaning to our complex history. As we look at his life and experiences, it is as though South Africa is looking at herself through the mirror.

This section therefore looks into the political process of David that saw him take over the throne as well as David’s governmental challenges after taking over the throne. The emphasis or objective is not to tell a story, it is to engage a prophetic-strategic review or introspection of the nation’s process, so that we can enhance the great successes of the first decade of our freedom.

The Days of Apartheid

David became a preference of God in a time when King Saul was still on the throne.¹ God was not happy with Saul for many reasons:

· Saul’s reign was a time of oppression and servitude for the masses.²

· He used his position to deprive the masses of their economic resources; there was basically a redistribution of wealth from the many to the few; i.e. his economic model or fiscal strategy was about collecting from the many in order to cater for the few.³

· People’s entrepreneurial drive was deactivated, at best, they became employees.⁴

· There were few people who carried weapons (only his officials), the masses were left deactivated. That is, the nation was not equipped politically and economically to effectively participate in the national agenda. The masses were basically left deactivated.⁵

· His governance was motivated by fear of losing power and as a result, his political process was about self protection as opposed to serving the people – this became his downfall.⁶

· In the days of Saul, the nation lost its moral fibre & governability.⁷

· He mobilised his government to look for and assassinate David. He spent most of his time, money and governmental resources doing this.⁸

All of these were realities in the apartheid government – its political and socio-economic models were exactly like those of Saul. ‘David’ is a prophetic principle that represents a correct leadership that God was raising right in the midst of the dark ages of apartheid.

Some of the details of the apartheid policy, which sought the exclusion of the majority from full participation in all aspects of South African society, had begun to crumble by the late 1980s. However in 1994, the essence of Apartheid remained, with blacks denied the franchise, society divided along racial lines and the social exclusion and neglect of the majority a matter of State policy. Government programmes perpetuated a strict racial hierarchy with the greatest allocation going to whites, and Africans receiving the least. It was only after 1994 that social transfers were completely de-racialised in line with actual need. Socially, the late 1980s saw a major phase of urban migration as influx control collapsed, giving rise to large-scale informal settlements without services. Economically, the country was isolated through sanctions and the resultant import-substitution industrialization meant that many firms were unable to compete in global markets (10 Year Book, The Presidency, 2003:7).

This quotation from the 10 Year Book further reveals the impact of the Apartheid government in as far as shaping the landscape of the nation. This discriminatory government can truly be likened to that of king Saul.

Freedom Fighters in Exile

· David spent some time in exile and men came to join him. These men were themselves men of stature who came with a heart of serving, they were not driven by greed for power.⁹

· These were men who had seen injustice of the government of Saul and had committed themselves to engage the struggle against Saul and his government.

‘Exile’ became one major trait of our political process as many people were forced to leave the country in order to effectively advance the agenda of the struggle. Beyond taking the issue of exile literally, ‘exile’ became the principle that marked the struggle. Everybody was in ‘exile’ as all forces of struggle had to renounce old South Africa. So whether inside or outside the country, to fight against apartheid meant becoming a foreigner (to the old South Africa) in terms of identity and philosophy.

The ‘Jonathan’ Principle: A White Remnant in the Apartheid Era

· Jonathan was a son of Saul but had a very intimate relationship with David, although Saul hated David.¹⁰

· Jonathan as a principle represents those who while living under Apartheid, were overcome by their conscience and began to establish relations with the very forces that were regarded as enemies of the regime.

· Jonathan as a principle therefore represents another SA political reality back in the days of Apartheid.

‘Jonathan’ represents those sons and daughters who forsook the rights they had under the regime and began to foster relationships with the pioneers and engineers of the struggle.

These are the ones who went beyond the political-legislative darkness & privileges of the day in order to respond to the impulse of the conscience, which was the impulse of God. They saw injustice in their privileged state and took steps that proved their integrity.

Beyers Naude’ is one of many examples that demonstrated this ‘Jonathan’ principle. We also read in the book, ‘South Africa at 10’ – (compiled by the World Economic Forum) about White Citizens who began to forge relations with the forces of struggle back in the dark days of apartheid.

All of these things reveal the faithfulness of our fathers (Black and White) in the costly process of birthing a new South Africa.

Oppressors vs. Freedom Fighters

(The Nature of Political Warfare)

· Saul and his men were on the look for David (fully armed).¹¹

· On the other hand, David had his men who were also fully armed.¹²

· But the strategy of David against Saul was never violence or war, he had opportunities where he could have killed Saul and also had an army that was ready to engage war – but he chose to engage a peaceful process.¹³

A Negotiated Ascension to Power

· David maintained his strategy of peace towards a government that was immoral and murderous.¹⁴

· When Saul eventually died, David engaged an ethical process towards the throne. He never rushed or demanded the throne even at the time when he could have done so – i.e. with all the support he had, he could have simply taken power without engaging a consultative process, but he didn’t do that.¹⁵

The same was a reality in our own nation. Whilst many unfortunately died in the course of the struggle; when the moment of transition came, we negotiated our way into the new South Africa. We are today enjoying the fruits and blessing of a negotiated process, a process that was marked with consultation, negotiations and cooperation as opposed to force or civil war.

The Inauguration

· The first inauguration of David was facilitated mainly by the tribe of Judah (which was his tribe), i.e. at this time, only those of his tribal descent embraced him.¹⁶

· The second inauguration of David was facilitated by all the tribes of Israel; by this time, his political influence had gone beyond his ‘hometown’ base.¹⁷

· David therefore enjoyed great political influence and power which he strived not to abuse. When he made mistakes in handling authority, he was quick to make corrective change.¹⁸

The political influence that the ruling party has should in no way become a platform for abuse, carelessness or negligence in governance. This influence is assigned for an effective engagement of the national agenda. This influence implies divine commissioning. The principle is that God gives more responsibility to those who are better positioned to engage the required business in a particular season. God changes times and seasons; He sets up kings or presidents and deposes them.

At the same time, God always has alternatives. If the ruling party fails to bring about deliverance to the nation, it (deliverance) will surely come from somewhere else. Our present political landscape (of party politics) is a reflection of seeds sown in the past. God honours those who deserve the honour. At the same time, the present political landscape (of party politics) is a seed for the future. So therefore the nature of the political landscape in the future can be seen in the seeds being sown presently.
David had sown a good seed in the past. At the time of his inauguration, people gathered around him and recognised his past efforts in relation to the national agenda of the nation, on that basis; they inaugurated him and gave him the authority and responsibility to govern the nation.

Resistance to Political Change

· Long after Saul had died, when David had been inaugurated as king over Judah, the house of Saul engaged war against David.¹⁹

· ‘The house of Saul’ obviously consisted of those who had enjoyed benefits and privileges under the leadership of Saul.

· These continued to resist change and actually fought the new government; but did not win.²⁰

Likewise, we have had forces in our nation that resisted change for various reasons. Some resisted because of fear, some because they still believed in apartheid and wanted to continue to enjoy the benefits and privileges enjoyed under the apartheid regime. We have seen such resistance softening over the years. There must be a continuous call for everybody to come on the table and celebrate the post-apartheid era.

National Reconciliation

· David mourned the death of Saul. This revealed his heart, that he wasn’t just motivated by pursuit of power but he was a man who valued human life.²¹

· David actually extended kindness to the house of Saul by calling on his (Saul’s) remaining grandson to come and eat at his table.²² David therefore extended his hand and or involved those who had been part of the former regime.

Although the house of Saul was fighting against David, he (David) maintained a reconciliatory attitude, to the point of calling to the table the sons of Saul. Likewise, our government must continue to project a reconciliatory image initiated under the rule of President Mandela. We have to ensure that we build upon the philosophy that saw the establishment of Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).That reconciliation attitude is one of the key pillars and foundational platforms of our nation. It is in fact a treasure that all nations of the world still look at today.

Like David, we have also seen our government including those who were part of the Apartheid regime. This inclusive reconciliatory attitude becomes an uncommon example for the nations of the earth; it breaks the pattern of revenge that often becomes the wisdom of the freed victims. This is one good example for Africa in its administration of the post-colonial era.

The New Government & Leadershift

David also represented and modelled a new leadership model that was consistent with the governance system he had built.

The very reason for Saul’s replacement was the need for a new better leadership model. God told Saul that he would be removed and replaced by a better leader.²³ David’s basic duty was therefore not just to fill a vacant position but to demonstrate a new leadership model that people had not seen before.

David was not just taking the leadership baton of Saul but was introducing the nation to new leadership standards.

Likewise, the post-apartheid government (institutions & political-administrative officers) has this responsibility before the Lord to demonstrate or to introduce our nation to a new leadership model. If the government fails on this issue, it will be failing to fulfil its one key component of its prophetic mandate.

· Saul spent most of his time and resources fortifying himself, he never built the nation. David focused on building the nation.

· David led the people with integrity of heart (values-based, ethical leadership) and skilful hands (strategic-administrative know-how & executive ability).²⁴

‘Values-based leadership’ is becoming a popular conversation in the 21^st century. This is no mistake as we are in the dispensation of the rebuilding of ancient Davidic values (one of which is moral or ethical leadership).²⁵

· Although David managed to build a tent for the ark of God²⁶, He still expressed concern about the fact that a proper house (or temple) had not been built for the ark when he himself was living in a palace of cedar (which implies personal wealth).²⁷ This concern revealed his value system as a political leader. He was not materialistic but stayed true to the national agenda. He was committed to the progressive realisation of the national goals, hence he wanted to remove the tent and build a proper house or temple. This is the politician that South Africa continues to need. A politician who is always on his/her toes regarding the progressive fulfilment of national agenda. A politician who does not get seduced by personal wealth.

· David was a very powerful political leader but was also correctable; men around him could speak into his life and bring adjustment.²⁸

· David led through consultation; he would place an ear to those around him.²⁹

As a nation, we must therefore produce a new breed of leaders who are both morally competent and strategically capable of bringing the necessary results.

A Timeous Strategic Succession

· David demonstrated this quality of lack of greed for power. He did not treat political responsibility as a career.

· It was not death that removed David from the throne but the need for strategic succession in order to ensure stability and growth within the nation.³⁰

· At the right time, David gave presidential responsibility to his son Solomon. Whilst David was still alive, he instructed the nation to submit to the leadership of Solomon.

Within our own country, we have witnessed this principle of strategic succession, when President Mandela gave the throne to President Mbeki. We need to ensure that we keep this political pattern.

Rebuilding the Image of the Government

The first responsibility and challenge of David (after taking over from king Saul) was to rebuild the image of the government, after years of abuse of power by Saul. When David took over; he had to rebuild people’s confidence in the whole concept of government. David therefore rebuilt government’s image by demonstrating new leadership values³¹ and implementing just governance systems.³²

In the same way, our government must ensure that it does not build upon the evils that characterised the apartheid government. There must be a continuous shift into new platforms of governance. We need to continue to define and abide by new values of governance. People associated the former Apartheid government with injustice and corruption. This new government must therefore wear a new face in the eyes of the public.

The principles of Bathopele³³ must be allowed to take shape so that they become a brand and identity of our Public Service. This again will demand an aggressive training as these principles cannot be implemented unless a new public service thinking or mentality (in line with Bathopele principles) is built in the minds of public servants.

We also must continue to ensure an ethical governmental process and moral office bearers in our government as our President and government have identified:

Perhaps, needless to say, the government will remain focused on the challenge to fight corruption in the public sector and in society at large. We will continue to intensify our offensive on this front, fully aware of the fact that much that happens in our society encourages the entrenchment of a value system based on personal acquisition of wealth by all means and at all cost (T.M. Mbeki: State of the Nation Address, 2006).

Effective rooting out of corruption must be backed by an aggressive training on ethical governance. The principle is that we cannot be strict on something we haven’t taught.

Senior governmental officers and structures (national government) must model corrupt free governance and be more vigilant on checking corruption within junior governmental structures (provincial and municipal governments). History tells us of a leader called Eli³³, who heard about all the corrupt practices that his junior leadership was involved in and was not tough enough on disciplining them. This junior leadership was abusing public resource and engaging in sexual immorality (with their female colleagues). Eli eventually lost his governmental mandate because he failed to build effective anti-corruption systems that ensured that corruption was either prevented or rooted out.

The 21^st century is a moral age, there is a new sense of morality growing within the heart of humanity; hence we are seeing such a level of punishment of corruption both in the public and private sectors (world wide). So therefore, senior government structures must model a corrupt free governance and at the same time keep a close look at junior structures like provincial governments and municipalities; ensuring that ethical governance remains a standard within these junior governmental structures.

Corruption and immorality both become our enemy number one, and if they are not given attention, can cause instability in our land.

Restoring Social Stability & Governability

David then had this challenge of restoring social stability and governability after decades of instability in the nation. This instability was caused by an unjust oppressive former government. David did this by providing effective leadership³⁴ and rebuilding systems of national governance.³⁵

One of the important things that we lost in the days of apartheid was governability. Because of the apartheid government, rebellious attitudes were employed. Of course if justice is not done, people are filled with schemes to do wrong. Environments of injustice produce rebellious societies.³⁶
We have now entered into an age of freedom with the same rebellious tendencies. The whole nation needs philosophical cleansing; and education is one key tool that should be used to help restore our nation to proper thinking and discipline. An environment of freedom with unruly people constitutes danger.

The reality is that the psyche of the nation is seriously damaged. We need to restore social discipline and stability. People need to be taught afresh on the purpose of government, law, police, public service etc.

This must also mean restoring the family unit. We need laws that are pro-discipline but at the same time guarding against parental abuses. If we deactivate effective parental discipline through legislations, we are only killing the future of our nation; we may realise this when it is too late.

In seeking an environment of freedom and justice, we should not remove fundamental principles like discipline. The reality is that if we remove parental discipline, then our young ones will be victims of experiential discipline which is rather ruthless. If we choose not to instil values like respect, responsible behaviour, morality etc. through effective parenting and teaching; then experience will.

Building a Broad-Based Socio-Economic System

David had to remove all unjust policies of his former government and build new just policies whose focus was on the development of the nation. He did this by pioneering a new broad-based socio-economic civilisation that was inclusive³⁷; his system of governance provided even for the foreigner, and so his governance was felt not only within the borders of his nation but also regionally.³⁸

The socio-economic agenda of our nation is heading towards the right direction (at least in paper). We have to continue to engage economic reform by broadening the economy, including those who were previously excluded (a broad-based socio-economic initiative e.g. BEE, Affirmative Action etc.). Just as we have ensured political citizenship, we must continue with the struggle of securing broad-based socio-economic citizenship. Many people in our nation who have political citizenship still do not have economic citizenship. They remain spectators (clapping for the few players) when it comes to economic activity.

The issue is that while we are correct in theory, we still have implementation related challenges that undermine the very objectives that we seek to meet. The process of identifying and removing these bottle necks both within the government and outside the sphere of government must therefore continue.

The present ASGISA initiative in its philosophical outlook, presents an opportunity of realising this noble objective of broadening the economy. It integrates the pursuit of economic growth, economic activation (especially for the second economy) and social development (for the poor). If it is implemented correctly, ASGISA will put us on a new frontier prophetically, to achieve both economic growth and economic equalisation at the same time; thereby fixing the complex issue of inequality.

If our socio-economic realm continues to remain in the hands of the few, then we will be failing to achieve the very thing that characterised the process of the struggle; which was the issue of broadening the socio-economic process from the few to the masses.

We have got to build an accessible socio-economic environment.

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Notes

¹ 1 Samuel 13:13&14; 1 Samuel 15: 27-29 (The Bible)

² 1 Samuel 8:11 (The Bible)

³ 1 Sam 8:14-17 (The Bible)

⁴ 1 Samuel 8:17, 11-13 (The Bible)

⁵ 1 Samuel 8:12, 1 Samuel 13:19&22 (The Bible)

⁶ 1 Samuel 13:7-14; 1 Samuel 15:24 (The Bible)

⁷ 1 Chronicles 13:1-4 (The Bible)

⁸ 1 Samuel chapters 19&20 (The Bible)

⁹ 1 Chronicles 12:1-22 (The Bible)

¹⁰ 1 Samuel chapter 20 (The Bible)

¹¹ 1 Samuel 23:7-28 (The Bible)

¹² 1 Chronicles 12:1&2 (The Bible)

¹³ 1 Samuel chapter 24 (The Bible)

¹⁴ 1 Samuel chapter 26 (The Bible)

¹⁵ 1 Chronicles 12:23, 2 Samuel chapter 2, 2 Samuel 5 (The Bible)

¹⁶ 2 Samuel 2:4 (The Bible)

¹⁷ 2 Samuel 5:1 (The Bible)

¹⁸ 2 Samuel chapters 11&12, 1 Chronicles 21 (The Bible)

¹⁹ 2 Samuel 3:1 (The Bible)

²⁰ 2 Samuel 3:1 (The Bible)

²¹ 2 Samuel chapter 1 (The Bible)

²² 2 Samuel chapter 9 (The Bible)

²³ 1 Samuel 13:14, 1 Samuel 15:28 (The Bible)

²⁴ Psalm 78:72 (The Bible)

²⁵ Amos 9:11&12, Acts 15:15-18 (The Bible)

²⁶ 1 Chronicles 15:1, 1 Chronicles 16:1 (The Bible)

²⁷ 1 Chronicles chapter 17 (The Bible)

²⁸ 2 Samuel chapter 12 (The Bible)

²⁹ 1 Chronicle 17:1, 2&15 (The Bible)

³⁰ 1 Chronicles chapters 28&29 (The Bible)

³¹ Psalm 78:72 (The Bible)

³² 1 Chronicles 13:3&4 (The Bible)

³³ The ‘Bathopele’ initiative aims to enhance the quality and accessibility of government services by improving efficiency and accountability to the recipients of public goods and services (Source: Department of Public Service and Administration). To know more about Bathopele, please visit (www.info.gov.za/aboutgovt/publicadmin/bathopele.htm).

³⁴ Psalm 78:72, Judges 5:2 (The Bible)

³⁵ 1 Chronicles 13:3&4 (The Bible)

³⁶ Ecclesiastes 8:11 (The Bible)

³⁷ 1 Chronicles 13:3&4; 15:1&28; 16:1 (The Bible)

³⁸ Amos 9:11&12, Acts 15:15-18 (The Bible)

3. Generational Succession

3 Give ear and come to me;

hear me, that your soul may live.

I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

my faithful love promised to David.

4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,

a leader and commander of the peoples.

The Davidic promise is about God promising a son to David. The context of the promise of the son was the need for the building of the temple (a new better shelter for the ark of God). David discovered that something was still missing in the nation, which in his context was a need for a proper temple (or system of governance) as opposed to just the tent that he had built. David wanted to build this temple for God and he was told (by God) that he was not the one to build the temple, but that his son would build.¹

The ‘Son’ Principle: The son therefore represented more than just the birthing of a new baby but the fulfilment of the desires of the fathers. The ‘son’ represented a new generation that would take over and fulfil the dreams of the fathers. The dream of David (who represents the fathering generation) was the building of the temple; he never fulfilled this in his time but achieved it through his son.

This is the issue that we find ourselves in as a nation. Our fathers went ahead of us, giving their lives to the course of the struggle. Some have fallen asleep having not seen or achieved the dreams that became the drivers of the struggle. Nelson Mandela is the icon representing this fathering generation for us.

God is, in this time, promising us (as a nation) that a generation is emerging with the will, know-how or wisdom & capacity to bring to conclusion that which our fathers dreamt. For David, that ‘son’ was Solomon; for us, as a nation, we are talking about a new emerging generation of amazing strength and wisdom that will facilitate the fruition of new South Africa.

The Freedom Charter represents such dreams of our fathers. Our fathers saw the deficiencies of the nation back in the days of apartheid and began (then) to describe the model of a new South Africa. The duty of the ‘son’ or successive-emerging generation must be to take that and bring it to fruition. This must become an internal driver of emerging political, social and business leadership of our nation.

The ‘son’ generation must guard that the agenda of the nation is not hijacked or aborted because God is a God of generations; He is a God of continuity. That which God began in the declarations and labour of our fathers must be fulfilled now. This is the essence of the Age of Hope that our president was talking about in his 2006 ‘state of the nation’ address.

So therefore the essence of the Davidic promise is progressive governance.² The Davidic promise is a strategic principle that implies among other things, continuous evolution and execution of the national agenda. It is about generational collaboration or effective transfer of the baton of governance from one generation to another. The Davidic promise further implies leadershift.³ It implies strategic reshuffling of leadership so that relevant leaders or leadership models tailor-made for particular seasons can be employed. The reality is that David could have built the temple. He actually had all the plans and resources to build⁴, and he could have very easily mobilised the people to build as they had grown accustomed to his leadership; but he was forbidden, and he willingly stepped down. Why was David forbidden? He simply did not represent required leadership architecture for the season of temple building. God told him that he was a man of blood⁵, implying that his leadership profile or identity was associated with warfare. He was a pioneering leader by identity who had had to fight battles in order to pave the way for an effective nation building. The season was demanding a different leadership model, Solomon, a man of peace, who had tremendous wisdom or strategic competence combined with a strong executive ability.

Most of our African countries have unfortunately failed on these matters of progressive governance and leadershift. South Africa has an opportunity to demonstrate a principle that must become ‘best practice’ for many of our African countries.

If this is our prophetic reality, then what kind of process must we engage to ensure an effective transfer of national agenda from the ‘fathering’ to the ‘son’ generation? Lessons from David:

· David communicated the plans to his son⁶: we therefore need to continuously engage dialogue with an objective of baptising the emerging generation into national agenda. We need a generational dialogue that becomes a tool for transferring national goals to the emerging generation. Perhaps even the education system can help so that we incorporate nation’s goals into our curriculum.

· David charged his son with the duty to build⁷: We need to commission the emerging generation or define the broader agenda for them upon which they will continue. If the fathering generation does not define the political pathway for the incoming generation, then we run the risk of unnecessary deviations, delays or even political abortions.

· David mobilised building resources for the son⁸: the fathering generation must be sure to leave resources (skills, know-how, experiential wisdom etc.) to ensure that by the time the ‘son’ generation takes over, they are ready, equipped & capacitated to run the affairs of the nation.

So therefore we must master the issue of generational succession. The following words by Solomon reveal that this wise man also dealt with the struggles associated with generational succession:

Ecclesiastes 2:17-21

17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labour under the sun. 21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. NIV

As a nation, we need to be wise by preparing and training those who must take over. The issue of generational succession must not catch us off guard. The key driver of realising this Age of Hope is in preparing a generation, mandating them with the national agenda and allowing them to rise to national responsibility at the right time.

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Notes

¹ 1 Chronicles chapter 17 (The Bible)

² Progressive Governance is the continuous evolution of governance models caused by the accumulation of experiential governmental knowledge, new governance wisdom (or thinking) and changing environmental factors.

For example, the current debate on structural reforms needed in the United Nations implies a need for the UN to engage progressive governance in order to keep up with the ever changing global environment. Progressive governance is therefore evolutional and reformative in nature. It breaks the boundaries of traditions and status quo by constantly seeking new frontiers (or cutting edge models for governance) that help produce effectiveness in governance.

³ Leadershift implies the process of identifying appropriate relevant leadership models that allow any generation to enhance its leadership capacity, thereby dealing effectively with its unique challenges.

Leadershift implies leadership reforms. For example, in this 21^st century we are identifying ethical or values-based leadership as a proper relevant leadership model of our time. This is influenced by the unique challenges that we are facing in the 21^st century (e.g. corruption & its effects on governance, business etc.). These 21^st century challenges have made us rethink the whole concept of leadership; hence the identification of new traits of leadership (e.g. values or ethics), as important traits that, if combined with other traits like strategy & executive ability (or performance), make up an effective leader in this dispensation.

Although leadershift does not necessary mean changing office bearers (leaders) but it normally would result in such changes as new blood is sometimes needed to represent and demonstrate new leadership models. Leadershift may therefore result in succession.

⁴ 1 Chronicles 28:11, 12&19 (The Bible)

⁵ 1 Chronicles 28:3 (The Bible)

⁶ 1 Chronicles 28:11&12 (The Bible)

⁷ 1 Chronicles 28:20&21 (The Bible)

⁸ 1 Chronicles 29:1-9 (The Bible)

4. South Africa, Africa & the Nations of the World
(Responsibility beyond our borders)

5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,

and nations that do not know you will hasten to you,

because of the LORD your God,

the Holy One of Israel,

for he has endowed you with splendour."

We have got to continue to embrace global responsibility. This global responsibility begins with Africa and extends into the global community. Already our government is filled with this drive and passion to engage the African as well as the Global Agenda.

During 2006 we will continue to engage the African challenges, focusing on peace and democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire and Sudan, the strengthening of the African Union and the acceleration of the process of the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) programmes. In this context we have to ensure that we conduct a successful self-assessment process as we prepare our national report for the African Peer Review Mechanism.

As the current Chair of the G77 + China we will do everything possible to advance the interests of the South, including in the context of the continuing WTO negotiations, and the urgent challenge to reform the United Nations, including the Security Council. We remain actively engaged to help find solutions to the various matters relating to the Israel/Palestine and the Iranian issues (T.M. Mbeki: State of the Nation Address, 2006).

This drive to engage continental-global agenda is no mistake; it is part of the commission of South Africa as a nation. God is the One stimulating our nation to rise and participate in the African and Global affairs. That responsibility will intensify in the years to come – this can only mean that we need to continue to place foreign affairs ministry into capable hands. Not only so, the entire national executive must carry African-Global issues in their hearts. We must continue to pour our resources (experience, wisdom, skill, know-how, finance etc.) into the African-Global agenda. This further means that the personnel forming up our national executive must be people who are not only competent in national issues but also in continental-global issues.

We have to continuously guard that this African-Global engagement does not become imperialistic in nature but remains one that is driven by negotiation and mutual respect. It is always easy to take a forceful approach, especially when you have political and economic power, but this constitutes unethical imperialistic approach. So we must not force ourselves into territories of others, nor should we, out of greed, rob others of what is rightfully theirs.

Model Nations in Africa: South Africa must take the responsibility of becoming one of the model nations to Africa and the nations of the world. Our national anthem captures our loyalty that goes beyond our national borders to Africa.

Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo,
Yizwa imithandazo yethu,
Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo… (South African National Anthem).

There can be no transformation of nations without the emerging of model nations. A model nation is one that lives under the same conditions or challenges that other nations live in and yet demonstrates structural wisdom that allows it to rise and conquer such challenges. This transformative pattern is, in fact, a Messianic principle.

Galatians 4:4-5

4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. NIV

God’s redemptive strategy is in raising models that become success stories for others (nations). These models must be born and live under the same circumstances as the rest of victims and yet conquer the structural evils that have victimised others, thereby demonstrating mentality, attitudes, patterns and principles from which others can learn.

What Africa needs urgently is model nations of African descent that will embrace modelling responsibility. These are the nations that must parade before others and transfer structural wisdom.

Hebrews 2:10-11

10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

Hebrews 5:8-9

8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him NIV

Model nations that become redeemers and reformers must be subjected to the same challenges that other nations face (e.g. corruption) and be able to overcome these with the principles and systems they willingly and consistently build. Model nations must also be in a position to understand the environmental circumstances in which those needing help live; hence redemption of Africa may not come from ‘foreign’ sources (this statement is not aimed at discouraging global collaboration and effort), but the redemptive principle demands that there be indigenous model nations rising inside Africa, who understand African issues not by book but by experience and identity. These are the ones better able to deal with African crises. The same thing must happen in South America, Europe etc.

Model Nations are therefore ‘firstfruits’ that have a pioneering capacity to break cycles of failure and demonstrate new patterns of governance.

When these model nations rise and demonstrate principles, patterns and systems for effective nation building, then the rest of the nations will also rise in confidence to follow on the good practices.

South Africa cannot become a model nation by mouth but by action. We do not want to take the route of Hypocritical Nations, who say but do not do. If we cannot effectively deal with our national issues then we have no basis to engage an African & Global agenda. The only thing permitting us to speak is our success stories. In this context, national stability and development are important for us to effectively speak into the issues of Africa and the world.

The Africa Peer Review Mechanism¹ should further be used to identify those nations within the African continent that are rising with sound principles and models of governance. These are the nations that should take a lead in the African Agenda, without becoming imperialistic in approach. The redemption model that these model nations should adopt is that of a shepherd before the sheep.² The leadership model of the shepherd is based on:

· Exemplary leadership as he goes ahead to show the way for the sheep (followers).

· Voluntary followership as the sheep follows not by force but by choice.

· Relational leadership as opposed to guru mentality as the shepherd calls the sheep by name.

· The pursuit of environments of empowerment for those led as the shepherd takes the sheep to green pastures. The focus therefore is not on the privileges of the leadership but empowerment of followership.

· Sacrificial process as the shepherd (leaders) can face crisis together with the sheep. We have got to eliminate false shepherds (leaders) who are only hireling; who only come to consult, take money and then run away in times of crisis. Those who come with governance models (whether be it nations/peoples of Africa or other continents or global institutions) for underdeveloped nations must take responsibility for their success or failure.

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Notes

¹ To know more about the Africa Peer Review Mechanism, please visit (www.aprm.org.za).

² Refer to John 10 and Psalm 23 of the Bible

5. The Issue of Moral Reform

6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;

call on him while he is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake his way

and the evil man his thoughts.

Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,

and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

God is giving us a chance to fix the moral life of the nation. We can no longer overlook the question of morality. In this context, government’s efforts to rebuild ethics through Moral Regeneration must be acknowledged and enhanced. The Moral Regeneration Movement is a timeous initiative for our nation. We cannot ignore morality because this is the essence of human life. A human being is a moral being. If a human being is a moral being then everything about human life must be morally compliant.

Moral Regeneration, an Approach: The Moral Regeneration Movement must take off and become a true national agenda. This Moral Regeneration Movement must not merely seek to rediscover ancient traditions as these have proven to decay with time. That is, a sustainable moral regeneration must be the one that helps the nation rediscover universal values of the conscience, which are the values of God. Such an approach shall help us ensure not only the moral stability of the present generation but also of future generations.

Moral Regeneration must therefore sweep through families, communities, business corridors, structures of the public service and educational institutions; defining and establishing a pro-moral philosophy.

South Africa is currently rated as number 45 globally in the Corruption Perceptions Index (Aboveboard, Issue no. 2, November/December 2005:21). Beyond this perception, we are constantly witnessing all kinds of crime and corrupt practices in our society. This implies that we cannot build an ethical society through a legal system only (i.e. documented laws, police, courts, prisons etc.), we need to build an effective legal system and then go on to mobilise for a moral civilisation; this is where moral regeneration comes in.

Moral Regeneration - a National Imperative: If we pursue economic growth without building moral foundations then we have no future. We will always have a thorn in our flesh, inflicting pain until we get things right. One such thorn is crime. Crime is not primarily a police issue – it is not only about the effectiveness of our police force. Crime is primarily a moral issue. That is why we can find cases of crime right inside our police system. We of course need to have an effective police system but unless we give an answer to the root question, the problem will never be solved.

God is giving us a chance to build moral foundations. So we have to pour our effort in rebuilding the nation morally. The present Moral Regeneration is a timeous initiative in view of moral reform as a present national emphasis.

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6. Effective Governance

10 As the rain and the snow

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

This speaks to us about the principle of effective governance. We must build a governmental process that ensures that things proceed from national government down to the lives of the people without blockage.

Initiatives of national government (legislations, policies, national initiatives) must affect the people in the same way that rain affects or waters the earth.

We must ensure that the machinery of government, especially the local government sphere, discharges its responsibilities effectively and efficiently, honouring the precepts of Batho Pele…;

…For ASGISA to succeed, it is clear that the machinery of state, and especially local government, should function effectively and efficiently. During the past year, our government has undertaken a detailed assessment to determine what we need to do to improve the capacity of our system of local government.

…I have already mentioned the fact that to meet our developmental objectives, which must respond to the high expectations of our people, we will pay special attention to the critical task of strengthening local government (T.M. Mbeki: State of the Nation Address, 2006).

We need to design governance models that are less bureaucratic but highly effective and able to translate national intents into realisable programmes. God is waiting to see that we perfect this process. This demands that we build a public service whose strength is the capability and trustworthiness of public servants as opposed to a public service that relies heavily on bureaucratic structures (as these tend to slow down the delivery process). More effort must be channelled on building public service competence and ethics. And a stricter disciplinary system has got to be employed in cases of corruption. We have to realise that there is no bureaucratic system that can effectively and completely stop corruption. So rather than employing a bureaucratic approach we need to change the profile of a public servant – we need to continue with the good practice of public servants taking oaths to serve the public, as a way of committing themselves to the ethical demands of public service.

We need continuous training initiatives for public servants, so that they enhance their public service strategic skills and ethics and be disciplined if they are found to be slack or corrupt. The principles of Bathopele are not realisable unless we radically change (through training) the profile of the public servant.

The budding and flourishing of the socio-economic environment become the result of effective governance. If we design governance models that are effective, then we shall see the nation and the socio-economic environment flourishing.

This must be driven through capacitating municipal governance and communities. We have got to ensure that we take capable men and women to drive the municipal process. Municipalities must become a strong executive arm of our government. In his 1994 state of the nation address, former President Mandela spoke about the need to build capacity of communities so that they manage their own affairs.

When the rain effectively flows from heaven to earth (i.e. effective governance) – the earth will be empowered to bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater.

So therefore effective governance brings about a self-sufficient environment that is able to sustain itself – senior governmental structures must pay more attention on issuing out relevant decrees (legislations, policies, initiatives) aimed at creating a growth friendly environment; ensuring that these proceed to people without blockages. There must be no ‘stammering’ in the supply chain of the government. All bottle necks must be identified and removed.

Our God given responsibility at this time is to discover a governance model that works. As our President puts it, the government must be able to determine what needs to be done to improve the capacity of (local) government. With this in mind, we must therefore ensure that the entire governmental supply chain is effective on issues of service delivery.

Solomon had this to say about deficient governance models:

If you see a poor person being oppressed by the powerful and justice being miscarried

throughout the land, don't be surprised! For every official is under orders from higher

up, and matters of justice only get lost in red tape and bureaucracy.¹

Deficient leadership and governance models are the cause of socio-economic crises. We cannot afford to have matters being lost on the way. National orders must hit the environment unhindered.

Towards a self sufficient socio-economic environment: the fruit of good governance is a self-sufficient environment, able to cater for its citizens.

The mobilisation of an effective tax system is but one example that shows us how good governance translates into socio-economic wellbeing. Because of an effective tax system, we are able to engage an effective fiscal programme in our various national initiatives. We are also able to take care of our lower income & economically unable societal groups.

In executing national orders (legislations, national initiatives etc.), those who are part of the supply chain must understand the desires and the purposes for which such orders are issued out. For example; the purpose of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) or Affirmative Action (AA) was and must never be to oppress Whites but to achieve equality. And so the spirit of BEE and AA must never be revenge but redress; hence there should be targets and timeframes, i.e. we need to be able to see when the problem is fixed for we cannot redress forever. Perhaps we need to communicate more the objective and desires because without an understanding of these, there will be no effective implementation.

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Notes

¹ Ecclesiastes 5:8 (The Bible, New Living Translation)

7. The Question of Leadership

12 You will go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

Leadership is important if we are to secure national stability. The principle is ‘when the shepherd is struck, the sheep scatter’¹ or when leaders are deficient, people and nations suffer. Building leadership capacity is therefore important for securing a stable society and future. The stability of any nation is in the quality of its leadership and therefore efforts to rebuild any nation must be about setting up effective leadership.

The issue of leadership must become a strategic conversation for government, business, civil society and family (parents). It has got to be incorporated into our educational programme at a very early stage so that citizens are trained to be leadership oriented.

If our political system or process is driven by a few good leaders with the majority of passive citizens only begging for help; then we can be sure that our national development process will not be sustainable.

It is unfortunate that politics in the 21^st century means leadership by few and passivity by many. This is the same problem found in the system of Moses that was driven by few leaders in the form of Levites/Priests. Such a political system will never work.

The complexities of the 21^st century make the guru political model insufficient; this guru political model is partly responsible for the demise of Africa. Every citizen must be trained to roll their sleeves and participate in the unfolding of national agenda.

One of the declarations of our Freedom Charter² is that the people shall govern. Beyond the issue of people voting once in few years (which is very important); this declaration has got to imply a meaningful on-going contribution by the people in the national agenda. We therefore need to build a citizen with a strong leadership orientation, able to take initiative in their communities and steer a developmental process. For our political process to work, it must be founded upon a base of empowered followership or citizenry that is able to bring meaningful contribution to the leadership process as opposed to few quality leaders and disempowered masses, whose voting is nothing but begging for bread. Voting has got to be an expression of executive right of citizens, where they collectively commission those who must take governance responsibility.

So that good leadership is not measured or determined by the weakness of followership or by disempowered masses. Good leadership must emerge out of a pool of empowered citizens. The authenticity of our political, business & community leadership must not be determined by the weakness and helplessness of those who follow because if this is a case, we will tend to keep the standard of the people down so that we remain leaders. In a company of the blind, the man with one eye takes a lead, but what happens when the blind regain their sight.

12 You will go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

This indicates the issue of the nation being led out in peace (socially stable environment); the nation being led out in the midst of mountains, hills (global systems & structures) and trees of the field (global community). This talks of the principle of national leadership in a global context. We therefore need to craft leaders who can lead the nation in the midst of a global environment. The reality is that the 21^st century is a global environment. Nations can no longer be locked up in their boundaries but must develop in a global context. Even the smallest nations must develop in a global context. We therefore need leaders who will not crumble as a result of global pressure but who can stand in this large global village and drive development in their nations.

The apartheid government never led in this global context but in isolation. We have seen God blessing us with men of global statue in our first two presidents of the new South Africa.

So we need leaders whose leadership receives the applause of the nations (trees of the field shall clap their hands) – without trying to please or buy honour from nations; leaders who receive applause simply because of good governance. We need leaders whose leadership brings systemic joy (mountains and hills shall burst into song). Leaders who build nations and national systems/ structures that add value to regional and global institutions like African Union, NEPAD, UN etc.

The Pauline Model of Leadership³: Paul, the apostle outlines for us elements that should characterise leaders; these are even more relevant in a 21^st century environment.

· Authentic leadership must be founded upon willingness to embrace responsibility; i.e. leadership must be service and not position oriented.

· Leaders must possess moral competence - the issue of values-based or ethical leadership.

· Leaders must possess social competence – ability to relate with other people.

· Leaders must demonstrate management ability in their own families or in small scale environments, so that they can be entrusted with bigger responsibility.

· Leaders must be able to communicate and transfer their values and goals to others.

· Leaders must be able to build the pursued vision in the lives of the people.

· Leaders must not be shallow people, but mature people who have depth of character and understanding.

· Leaders must possess a good, unquestionable image with outsiders (foreign peoples and nations).

· Leaders must be balanced people, free from extremes and excessive lifestyles.

· Leaders must not be people who get results by force, but gentle people who consult.

· Leaders must not be lovers of money or materialistic people; they must also not be corrupt people.

· Leaders must possess self-control and demonstrate self-discipline.

· Leaders must hold dearly the national agenda being pursued.

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Notes

¹ Zechariah 13:7 (The Bible).

² For more details on the Freedom Charter please visit (www.anc.org.za).

³ Paul’s teaching on leadership and administration is found in 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus 1:5-9 of the Bible.

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SECTION B South Africa: Perspectives for Nation Building

1. Building a United South Africa

Steve Biko rightly declared that we regard our living together not as an unfortunate mishap warranting endless competition among us, but as a deliberate act of God to make us a community of brothers and sisters jointly involved in the quest for a composite answer to the varied problems of life.¹

According to this statement, unity is possible in an environment of diversity, and in fact, diversity is a deliberate model of life designed by God that gives basis for unity. Without diversity (of personality, age, gender, race etc.) there would be no need for unity. Biko implicitly states that because of misunderstanding diversity, human beings tend to fight one another. The statement further implies that unity produces a collaborative effort, where we are able to confront life challenges as a united community as opposed to a community fragmented on racial grounds. There can therefore be no global or national conquest to the challenges that remain a threat to human existence unless there be a will to unite. In this regard, unity is no nice idea; it is part of the architecture of human life and an imperative for effective living.

1994 Historic Transition

The process that gave birth to the first democratic elections in 1994 was an obvious declaration of political will by all South Africans to unite after decades of racial division. This received applause of nations and is still today referred to as a miracle.

It is a ‘miracle’ not because there was no decisive and strategic action towards political unity by our leaders, but because there had clearly been challenges that were proving to be beyond human and organisational capacity that were however somehow solved. It is a ‘miracle’ because when we look back, we realise that just as ordinary South Africans; we would not have achieved what was achieved. It is therefore a miracle because of clear supernatural intervention by God Himself who actively worked with our leaders in the birthing of new South Africa.

The question is, can that political will to unite be translated into real social cohesion. Now that we have defined ourselves as a rainbow nation, can we truly live up to that reality? When we consider this question, we realise that we are not yet in a position of giving a bold YES. We still have a degree of racial intolerance and tension, but if we keep our attitude of unity, we will eventually win.

The Doctrine of Racism:

Rooting Out the Fallacy of a Supreme Race

When we look back to the issues of Colonization, Racism or Apartheid; it becomes clear that one of the erroneous foundations upon which segregative and oppressive philosophy was built was this doctrine of racism. This thinking interprets the administration of human life or nations by God along racial grounds. It assumes that God prefers certain nations or races over others and therefore validates racism & segregation. This is not only a religious-political lie but it is a gross misrepresentation of the nature of God.

When we study the Manual of God for the human race (i.e. the Bible), we realise the following fundamental principles that represent accurately who God is and how He administers the human race:

Revelation 4:3

3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. NIV

· The Book of Revelation reveals a God who is surrounded by a rainbow. This indicates a God of diversity. In fact it says that God’s throne was surrounded by a rainbow. So therefore God’s rulership is expressed with a strong consideration of realities of diversity (diversity management) & this principle implies that God is just in His administration, He employs principles of equality and justice.

Revelation 7:9

9 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. NIV

· The Book again reveals this image that is inclusive of all nations and races. This indicates that every race commands presence in the mind of God. He (i.e. God) does not prefer one race over another.

Acts 10:34

34 Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism

Romans 2:11

11 For God does not show favouritism.

1 Peter 1:17

17 Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.

· God has no favouritism. He does not prefer certain individuals, tribes, nations or races over other individuals, tribes, nations, races. He is the God of justice, equality and fairness.

Romans 3:29

29 Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, NIV

Galatians 3:28

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. NIV

· There is no one gender, nation or racial group that has a monopolistic hold on God. God has no special gender, nation or race. Both genders (male and female) are equally important to God. All nations and races are equally important to God. God extends His hand equally to the peoples of the east and west, north and south. This is further confirmed by the fact that all individuals, nations and races have equal access to God’s natural resources (e.g. we all get access to the sun).

Genesis 2:18

18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

NIV

Galatians 3:28

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. NIV

1 Corinthians 11:3

3 Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. NIV

Ephesians 5:21-23

21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour. NIV

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her NIV

Genesis 1:28

28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

NIV

· When it comes to the question of gender, we see God declaring as insufficient a world of male dominance (it is not good for the man to be alone). He declared the need for a helper in the form of a woman. Womanhood therefore completes human ability.

In saying that, we are not ignorant of a deeper principle that God was also establishing; the issue of ‘human independence’ versus ‘human interdependence. ‘It is not good for the man to be alone’ - is not only focusing on marriage, but primarily on an individualistic philosophy, which is normally a reality with males. And so therefore the primary emphasis of this initiative of God in Genesis 2:18 was the crafting of interdependence, relationship, sociality, community, nationhood, partnership and team. This is the architecture of human life and this is therefore how nations, communities and organisations must be structured.

The Messianic philosophy does not support a view of male dominance (there is neither male nor female). Although it does support headship responsibility by males, or shall we say, by husbands, in relation to their wives. Such headship by husbands and submission by wives become null and void if it is not practiced within the framework of mutual respect and accountability (for it firstly says ‘submit to one another’).

We also find that the very first commissioning by God over the human race on issues of governance was not exclusive to men but God spoke to them (meaning Adam & Eve or male and female) and commanded them to rule. And so an inclusive philosophy on issues of leadership responsibility is in line with the genesis architecture of life; it is an ancient principle that can be traced back to the origins of the human race.

Romans 1:20

20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

NIV

· The nature of God is further revealed through creation. One key thing about creation is its diversity and interdependence. We see trees of different kind, animals of different kind, water and seas etc. and yet all these live interdependently of each other (the ecosystem).

Genesis 1:26

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

NIV

Acts 17:26

26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. NIV

· We see a God who creates humanity (different races and nations). If God created different races and nations then He must have a plan on how these diverse peoples are suppose to live; because God does not create without providing support mechanisms (guiding principles) that help us live without violating the basic codes of life.

· The core guiding principle of living in this diverse environment called the global village is the royal law of love, which is the law of the conscience. This royal law is that we must love our neighbour as we love ourselves. It is also supported by this principle that ‘in everything we must do to others what we would have them do to us.’

This is the principle that should guide neighbours in communities, marriage partners, and tribes, work colleagues during the course of business, nations and their foreign policies as well as international relations.
This royal law of love is based upon the understanding that all of life is valuable regardless of colour, race, ethnicity, gender, economic class, geographical location etc.

· This royal law must then be supported by a philosophical framework that guides our thought systems; for as a man thinks so is he.

Galatians 3:28

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. NIV

James 2:1&9

1 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favouritism. 9 But if you show favouritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. NIV

· God has no class. He has no political, economic or gender class. To build nations and a global system that is conscious of class is therefore immoral.

· According to God, Communities and Nations must ensure that they are not conscious of class.

Colossians 3:25

25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favouritism.

NIV

Ephesians 6:9

9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favouritism with him.

NIV

· We must build leadership, management and judicial systems that are based on equality and justice. Systems that do not favour certain individuals on the basis of either race or economic class.

Proverbs 6:16-19

16 There are six things the LORD hates,

seven that are detestable to him:

17 haughty eyes,

a lying tongue,

hands that shed innocent blood,

18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,

feet that are quick to rush into evil,

19 a false witness who pours out lies

and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

NIV

· God hates it when men cause dissension or division among people. This further means that God hates systems (political or economic) that cause segregation among people.

Was Adam Black or White? There is this question that is silently being asked and it relates to the ethnicity of the first man Adam. When one considers certain fundamental principles associated with the creation of the human race, it becomes clear that the question is, in the first place, wrong.

· Adam, who represents the human race, was created in the image (i.e. values and thought patterns) of God. The basis of his identity was therefore not external factors like colour of the skin but internal factors like his conscience and value system. Our identity should therefore be based on principles of the conscience rather than on colour.

· Only after his conflict with God did Adam show consciousness of external factors, which was accompanied by his effort to cover himself. This basically implies that (after the conflict) there would have been a major structural shift in his perspective of life (from an internal to external focus, e.g. emphasis on colour of skin).

· So therefore the question that relates to Adam’s colour of skin is a question of the post conflict era between God and man.

· The true identity of mankind is not external it is internal. Our identity is the value system locked up in our conscience. The moment we adopt this view, we begin to realise that our world extends beyond our gender, tribe, nation or race. And so across races and nations I can find people of the same value system and relate to these as brothers and sisters. People of my own skin, who demonstrate strange values cannot be my brothers or sisters.

· The question about Adamic ethnicity must be removed as it is based on insecurity and greed for political power and supremacy.

Racism, a Messianic Confrontation: There is an interesting story in the Manual of God (the Bible), a story of the Samaritan Woman. In this story a conversation between the Samaritan Woman and Jesus Christ is recorded for us. Jesus here is not just addressing religious issues for Sunday morning; He is addressing serious political issues that relate to tensions between Samaritans and Jews. There are therefore many things that we (as a nation of South Africa, living in the 21^st century) can learn.

John 4:19-26

19 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."

21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

25 The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

26 Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he." NIV

· In this story we find serious political tensions between Jews & Samaritans.

· The Samaritans were particularly not happy with the dominant imperialistic attitude by Jews. Somebody had to step into this politically tense situation and bring a solution.

The Messianic Solution

· Jesus begins to speak about a new dispensation. This new dispensation would come with a new philosophy and therefore a new administration involving the following issues:

· The removal of racial emphasis: True worshippers (citizens) were no longer determined by their ethnicity (Jews or Samaritans). This reveals that the authenticity of human life as far as God is concerned is not race.

· The removal of Geographical emphasis: True worshippers (citizens) were no longer to be authenticated by their geographical location. Christ therefore removed the concept of ‘special’ or ‘holy’ lands; and the religious-political battles associated with this thinking. Jerusalem was no longer the headquarters for worship.

· The point of departure for Christ was the fact that God is Spirit and can therefore not be boxed in a particular colour, race or geographical location. In fact the entire earth and everything in it belong to the Lord.²

· True worshippers (citizens) were defined by two factors, spirit and truth. The authenticity of human life is therefore based not on race or geographical locations but on our internal beings (spirit) and inner values (truth) located in our conscience. This is the essence of human life.

If South Africa is to go forward and leave behind the painful past that was based on erroneous thinking; it must deal seriously and honestly with this doctrine of racism. The philosophy of the supremacy of certain races (whether black or white) is unfounded; it is in fact erroneous, immoral and ungodly.

South Africa must seize her prophetic charge to model before the nations of the world a harmonious diverse life. If God can achieve this through South Africa (& other diverse nations), then He can achieve it with the rest of the world.

But as we have proven, God has no favouritism and in fact hates all forms of prejudice, racial or economic; so must we (as a human race) continue with building civilisations that are free from racial bias.

Unity & the Political Struggle

The struggle was administered through unity and the struggle was about giving birth to a united South Africa.

In the Freedom Charter, our fathers and mothers declared:

‘THESE FREEDOMS WE WILL FIGHT FOR, SIDE BY SIDE, THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES, UNTIL WE HAVE WON OUR LIBERTY’

‘Fighting side by side’ reveals the administrative architecture of the struggle; that it demanded partnership and collaboration by freedom fighters. Betrayal and lack of loyalty always resulted in weakness and failure. For freedom fighters, uniting was an imperative as opposed to just a good operational idea. Without unity, there would be no winning.

In the Freedom Charter, our fathers and mothers further declared:

‘There shall be Peace and Friendship!

South Africa shall be a fully independent state which respects the rights and sovereignty of all nations;

South Africa shall strive to maintain world peace and the settlement of all international disputes by negotiation - not war;

Peace and friendship amongst all our people shall be secured by upholding the equal rights, opportunities and status of all.’

Not only was the struggle administered through unity but it sought to achieve and build a united nation. Freedom fighters did not fight for a South Africa in which Blacks would be the supreme race; they fought for the equality of South African races. When they sacrificed their lives, leaving their homes, wives/husbands, kids, relatives; they were going to battle on behalf of all races of South Africa, including Whites. When they died, they were dying for both the oppressor and the oppressed. This is the philosophy of the struggle. Our challenge is to build unity in order to realise these hopes and dreams of our freedom fighters. Failure to unite would constitute serious mockery to the struggle.

Unity as a Constitutional Imperative

We, the people of South Africa,

Recognise the injustices of our past;

Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land;

Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and

Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.

We therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this Constitution as the supreme

law of the Republic so as to-

Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social

justice and fundamental human rights;

Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on

the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law;

Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and

Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign

state in the family of nations.

May God protect our people.

Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. Moreno bloke setjhaba sa heso.

God seen Suid-Afrika. God bless South Africa.

Mudzimu fhatutshedza Afurika. Hosi katekisa Afrika.

CHAPTER 1

FOUNDING PROVISIONS

1. Republic of South Africa.-The Republic of South Africa is one, sovereign, demo.-

(a) Human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human

democratic state founded on the following values:

rights and freedoms.

(6) Non-racialism and non-sexism.

(c) Supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law.

(4 Universal adult suffrage, a national common voters roll, regular elections and a

multi-party system of democratic government, to ensure accountability, responsiveness

and openness… (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa).

There are fundamental principles that our constitution clearly seeks to drive home to each and every South African:

· The recognition of past imbalances as injustice. This is the declaration that the construction of a united South Africa must begin with us disassociating ourselves from the past.

· ‘South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity’. This reveals that our process to unity is not through intolerance; we will never again seek stability by oppressing those of different colour or race. Unity is in fact possible in a diverse environment.

· Unity shall imply that we have truly overcome the evils of the past.

· Unity is therefore the core element of our new constitution. This implies that the building of the new South Africa has a particular framework – which is unity. This should influence how the government administers its public business, how communities get built, how citizens relate with one another, how business executives design and lead their organisations etc.

Unity as Our Expressed Commitment

Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo,
Yizwa imithandazo yethu,
Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo.
Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,
O fedise dintwa le matshwenyeho,
O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso,
Setjhaba sa South Afrika - South Afrika.
Uit die blou van onse hemel,
Uit die diepte van ons see,
Oor ons ewige gebergtes,
Waar die kranse antwoord gee,
Sounds the call to come together,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom,
In South Africa our land.

In our national anthem, we rightfully declare the sounding of the call to come together to stand or exist as a united nation. This further outlines the importance of unity in the process of building a new South Africa.

If this reality is captured by our national anthem, then it must be again very serious. South Africa’s basis of strength and beauty must be firstly her united society. We have got to be able to achieve our declared commitment as captured in our national anthem.

Cainism: an Enemy of Unity

What is Cainism?

The following words by President Thabo Mbeki, quoted from our former President Nelson Mandel describe very well a Cainistic thinking and lifestyle.

As part of this, clearly we must also respond to what Nelson Mandela said a week ago when he addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations, that we must fight against and defeat what he described as the deification of arms, the seemingly entrenched view that to kill another person is a natural way of advancing one’s cause or an obviously correct manner by which to resolve disputes (African Renaissance:1999, xv).

Cainism describes a philosophy of insecurity, greed, competitiveness and intolerance. The term is borrowed from Cain, who was one of the sons of Adam. His approach in dealing with conflict with his brother demonstrates perfectly the quotation above.

Genesis 4:1-10

1 Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man." 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favour on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favour. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"

"I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"

10 The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. NIV

· The first thing that we note about Cain is that he was the big brother. He therefore was in a position of leadership and authority. He was supposed to provide protection to his younger brother Abel but he didn’t.

· Cain rightfully set the tone by initiating the process of worship, providing a pattern for his younger brother to follow. But when the young brother followed, Cain became angry. It was here that Cain demonstrated elements of insecurity and competitiveness.

· Cain was dealing with anger for sometime. He was angry at his brother for no reason. Cain did not seek to resolve the matter between himself and his brother; he eventually gave in and decided to kill his brother.

· To Cain, self interest, emotional feeling and the need to be above the rest were so important that he would violate life principles and take the route of violence and murder. Therefore to Cain, fame and position were so important that he would kill anybody who threatened to take these away from him.

· Cain was also deceptive in that he pretended as if everything was fine. His brother Abel never knew what was going on until he was murdered. This tells us that Cain would have been in a deceptive relationship for some time, lying to his own brother by pretending that he was happy, when he was actually angry.

· It is with Cain that the spirit of assassination began. He devised a plan to kill and successfully implemented it.

· The words, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper’, seal this Cainistic philosophy. Through these words, Cain was demonstrating lack of responsibility for those who were in relationship with him. These are not necessarily words that we utter with our lips today, but they are certainly representative of our heart attitudes and are demonstrated through mentality and lifestyle.

· Cain therefore is an anti-unity principle. To him, diversity means insecurity. For Cain, survival and victory is not in collaboration, partnerships and unity but in removing others.

The principle of Cain therefore manifests in:

· The society in general: When citizens fail to integrate but instead adopt an attitude of intolerance, they are manifesting the same old philosophy that was found in one of the earliest sons of the human race.

· Workplace Relations: the backstabbing, character assassinations, discriminations that go on in the workplace, especially within the context of fighting for positions or power also reveal the extent to which Cainism has infiltrated 21^st century lifestyle and business. Sometimes it appears that those who possess Cainistic tactics are the ones who survive and prevail in the business.

· Economic civilisations, especially capitalistic thinking with its idea of ‘the survival of the fittest’. When citizens are Cainistic in their economic approach, they then define success as somebody else’s failure. Pursuit of wealth that is not matched with social responsibility demonstrates Cainistic mentality.

· Political organisations: false faces that politicians wear for each other, false smiles and cold war are all traits of a Cainistic political mentality; where my political career is based on failure by my own colleagues.

· Foreign Policies, International Relations & Diplomatic Engagements: Cainism also manifests in relations between nations. Foreign policies sometimes reflect Cainistic philosophy (that we will relate only if I remain your boss, otherwise I get rid of you). Or where ‘big brother’ nations (i.e. socially stable economic powerhouses) fail to extend their hands to developing nations. By failing to help, these ‘big brother’ nations are essentially participating in the demise of poor nations.

So if we are to build unity, we must root out this Cainistic philosophy and build different values; values that empower us to live peacefully with others without feeling insecure; values that allow us to willingly integrate our lives with others without emphasising issues of prominence and fame.

Redress, Equalisation & Unity

There can be no true unity in an environment of injustice. The journey to unity involves redressing past imbalances and attaining to equalisation.

Redress, Equalisation & Unity – the Messianic Approach: The principle of redress and equalisation is in fact a godly principle that Christ Himself established in the course of human redemption within the context of ‘Jews’ and ‘Gentiles’.

Ephesians 2:14-19

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, NIV

Here are the principles that we need to note:

· Identifying and destroying the barrier, the diving wall of hostility: this barrier is ‘law’. When we say law, we are no longer referring to the documented laws of Apartheid that were removed through 1994 first democratic elections. ‘Law’ refers to the mental code, the deep rooted philosophy that determines discriminative thinking, attitudes, fears, insecurity, hatred, unforgiveness, lack of trust etc.

· With this we must remember that Apartheid became a philosophical principle first before it became a law on paper (i.e. we must distinguish between racism and apartheid). Whilst removal of documented racial law (Apartheid) was a great achievement, we still have to deal with deep philosophical attitudes that are racist in nature (to both Whites and Blacks).

· As long as we have not removed the diving wall of hostility in our nation, we will continue to experience racial tensions.

We therefore need to deal with the root problem. In fact this is one of the key assignments that we have in this second decade and beyond, to deactivate the principle of racism in the mind and craft a new social philosophy – this will result in the creation of one new nation.

· We have got to continue to break the barrier and build a new social order that does not compromise any group of society. Educational institutions and workplaces are important for us to realise this as these are the centres where people of different races meet and relate.

Educational institutions and workplaces must become our strategic centres for dialogue & training on this issue.

· The principle of Christ is that of a collective process that ensures equality. He ensured that He brought closer those who were previously far (marginalised) and those who were near (privileged).

He came and preached peace to those afar and those near. The reality is that all social or racial groups of our society need attention because all were messed up by Apartheid.

· This creates an equal access to life and socio-economic activities; resulting in the broadening of citizenship. Just as we have broadened political citizenship, we also need to broaden socio-economic citizenship.

Principles for Building National Unity

Mrs Nokukhanya Luthuli (the wife of Chief Albert Luthuli) declared; ‘My wish before I die is to see Blacks and Whites living harmoniously in a united South Africa’.³

This expresses the dreams and desires of our fathers and mothers. Their sacrifices were based on the new South Africa that was revealed to them. They were visionaries, they were our prophets and prophetesses; today we have to build what they saw.

How good and pleasant it is

when brothers live together in unity.⁴

Unity is a national imperative. Division was the architecture of old South Africa and must be removed. Unity is the architecture of new South Africa. Division constitutes national weakness and instability whereas unity is the basis for national stability.

It must be clear that unity is a reality that we must progressively enter into, that is, building unity is a process. 1994 was the first phase that kick started the process towards unity but was certainly not an end in itself.

Unity & the Good Samaritan Approach: The Issue of Love

The story of a Good Samaritan is one wonderful parable that reveals some critical principles of building a nation that has capacity to overcome political or racial tensions and barriers and attain to unity.

The basis of the parable was the following two questions:

(a) What is the greatest commandment, i.e. what is the royal law of human life?

(b) Who is my neighbour?

The answers to these questions were:

(a) The royal law of human life is love for our neighbour, and the degree of love for our neighbour must be measured by the degree to which we love ourselves.

(b) Neighbour is not limited to the house next to your house, not limited to your hometown or race, but it also includes everybody that you come across with in the course of life. In this sense, a work colleague is your neighbour, class mates at school are your neighbours and so essential fellow citizens that you come across with on a daily basis are your neighbour etc.

Luke 10:30-37

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

NIV

· The story reveals that neighbourhood is not simply physical nearness, i.e. that the Priest and Levite came near the man does not make them his neighbours.

· Neighbourhood implies interaction, the Good Samaritan did not simply go by the man; he stopped and provided help. Neighbourhood therefore demands a certain socio-economic approach, where we take on the social responsibility to be of resource to our fellow citizens.

· The Priest and Levite were prevented by their societal status from helping. As priests they could not come near a dead body. So fearing for their status, they went by, pretending as though they had not seen anything. This reveals the extent to which class consciousness damages a society. True nationhood transcends beyond socio-economic & racial borders.

· So therefore incorporating the principles demonstrated by the Good Samaritan within our nation would demand that we philosophically integrate across socio-economic class and bring to life social interactions across race and economic class. New South Africa therefore needs new culture that becomes a vessel and a vehicle helping us to achieve a united and yet diverse nation. If we still promote cultures that have racial bias, we will never be able to achieve our noble goal of unity.

· We need to remove a Titanic philosophy that builds different decks for different economic groups and therefore disintegrate society along economic lines. The very infrastructural architecture of our nation (e.g. shopping centres) must promote social interactions across race and economic class; so that rural and urban, Black and White can all interact.

Outlining key elements and support mechanisms that will help us achieve unity:

Forgiveness

Our former President Nelson Mandela was a timeous resource for the nation. He became an icon of forgiveness and reconciliation. This attitude of forgiveness must be continuously maintained so that it creates a foundational platform for national development.

Reconciliation

There must be an extending of hands by the different races of our Nation. Whites must come out of the ‘box’ that robbed them of rich relationships across racial lines in the past. This ‘box’ refers to a reserved mentality, fear, shame (that relates to past injustices), superiority, insecurity, discrimination etc. Blacks must also come out of the ‘box’; the box of distrust, hatred, unforgiveness, inferiority etc.

All races must extend their hands, trusting each others’ motives and trusting that the future has hope and stability.

Creating and Maintaining a Unity-Friendly Political and Constitutional Temperature

Our government must continue to ensure that the political-constitutional framework (e.g. laws of the country) discourages discrimination and promotes reconciliation and unity. Our constitution presently ensures this.

CHAPTER 1

FOUNDING PROVISIONS

1. Republic of South Africa.-The Republic of South Africa is one, sovereign, demo.-

(a) Human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human

democratic state founded on the following values:

rights and freedoms.

(6) Non-racialism and non-sexism.

Supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law.

(4 Universal adult suffrage, a national common voters roll, regular elections and a

multi-party system of democratic government, to ensure accountability, responsiveness

and openness…’ (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa)

President Thabo Mbeki, speaking on racism said that a global experience stretching over a long period of time, demonstrates that the creation of a constitutional and legal framework for the oppression of racism is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition to end this violation of human rights.⁵

Setting a non-racial constitutional temperature must therefore be seen as a point of departure rather than a perfectly sufficient weapon against racism. Beyond building a legal framework, we need to shape the thinking of citizens.

Creating Structural & Institutional Support Mechanisms

We need to ensure that we root out all forms of structural injustices that foster discrimination of either gender or colour. This is especially important in organisations. We have to build organisational environments (policies and cultures) that are free from prejudice and bias. Organisations must engage serious structural reforms to ensure not only new and balanced policies but also new and balanced cultures. Some organisations have excellent policies on paper but their prevailing cultures are still bias towards Whites or Males; and so these organisations are essentially suffering from organisational hypocrisy. Prevailing organisational cultures must be constantly aligned to declared and documented policies.

A Philosophical vs. Legalistic Approach

We must ensure that we don’t just impose principles of reconciliation and unity (through laws and policies) but that we build the philosophy of unity. A philosophical approach ensures that everybody takes personal ownership of the principles of unity as opposed to doing something because the law demands so.

Unity & the Family Unit

Proverbs 22:6

6 Train a child in the way he should go,

and when he is old he will not turn from it.

NIV

Parents must come on board and be instrumental in building multi-racial unity. People often keep to the values taught at home and so if they are taught bad things about other races they will tend to be reserved and fearful.

Deuteronomy 4:9

9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. NIV

Our declared national values and goals must be instilled to the young generation. Parents must be able to talk about these things with their kids during dinner, breakfasts, picnics etc.

Unity & the Education System

The Moral Regeneration Movement’s website has these words taken from Nelson Mandela’s book, Long Walk to Freedom:

No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.

Racism can and should therefore be broken or rooted out through an effective education and training process. The education system must therefore play an important role in schooling the nation on unity. Students must understand what unity is about, why we are pursuing it and what their role is (as citizens) in building a united South Africa.

Unity, Managing Diversity & Organisational Training

Proverbs 22:6

6 Train a child in the way he should go,

and when he is old he will not turn from it.

NIV

The only way of expecting and producing a particular behaviour within the workplace is through training. People can adopt any value that they are trained on. Not only must people be trained on unity, the very environment in which they function must scream unity. Corporate Phariseesm must be rooted out in the workplace, where business leaders verbally commit to things that they don’t do; and expect from others what they don’t practice. Business leaders must go before the people like shepherds leading sheep, and demonstrate values of unity.

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Notes

¹ Quotation taken from the book, ‘Defining Moments’, by Wendy Luhabe (Chapter 6).

² Psalm 24:1 (The Bible).

³ Quotation taken from the book, ‘Mahube, the Dawning of the Dawn’: Speeches, Lectures & Tributes by Thabo Mbeki (Chapter 12).

⁴ Psalm 133 (The Bible)

⁵ Quotation taken from the book, ‘Mahube, the Dawning of the Dawn’: Speeches, Lectures & Tributes by Thabo Mbeki (Chapter 12).

2. Reviewing our Political Civilisation in the 21^st Century/ Searching for a New Political Frontier

Democracy continues to be a cutting edge political model in terms of promising people freedom, human rights, equality, participative governance, transparency, accountability etc. All these are good qualities that we need in any governmental process.

Monarchy, dictatorship & autocracy have all been replaced by a democratic model of governance. These were obviously wrong as they lacked accountability, transparency & participative governance.

Calibrating Democracy

Democracy has everything going for it except that it lacks moral boundaries; and perhaps that is where it needs to be fine-tuned.

Democracy clearly lacks a tight moral framework in that the rights of human beings are sometimes not seen in the light of ethics and morals but only in the light of the will and desires of the people.

Democracy’s major failure is that of serving the desires of people without considering the morality of such desires.

Can a human being really have the right to abortion, prostitution, and homosexuality? These issues are not mere political issues but are deeply moral questions. This points out the issue of a political process that is numb to moral demands.

Democracy must have a moral framework!

Politics is the science of governing or administering human & earthly affairs. Human Beings are Moral-Social-Intellectual Beings. Not only are humans moral beings but the very earth or creation system has a moral context; i.e. you can’t talk about administering human life without talking about the need for values and moral philosophy.

If politics is about governing human and earthly affairs and humans are moral beings, then our political model must be deeply moral in its nature. Our political process must have a moral context in that it must subscribe to human values.

As it is, democracy has been stripped off its moral armour and constantly fails to address issues at a moral level. Remember, politics is essentially a moral subject because it deals with humans who are moral beings.

Romans 13:1-7

1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.

6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

NIV

God teaches the human race to submit to a governmental process. We are also told here that governments are in fact God’s servants and agents who are given the basic responsibility to punish wrong and to commend those doing right.

That is, one of the basic duties of any government is to ensure that there is morality in the land. How does the government do this? By defining laws, establishing laws, communicating and teaching laws and setting up systems to enforce such laws. Hence we have education, police, courts, prisons etc.

And in fact humans must submit to governments out of conscience. That is, honouring a governmental process is an ethical obligation.

If one of the basic duties of a government is to ensure morality in the land, then we must calibrate most governments against this standard and see if they are effective or not.

Human Beings and Human Rights

Human Beings are Moral-Social-Intellectual Beings. These three elements must become the basic rights of Human Beings. All human beings have a right to live morally (morality as defined by God through human conscience), right to interact with other humans across gender, age and race (right to sociality) & right to express their creativity, intellectual capacity, talents and therefore productivity.

Genesis 2:15-17

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

NIV

The very first human right ever declared over human life was not without constraints. Man understood that he was free only to a certain extent. That is why we have conscience, to help us identify boundaries that have been set by the Creator.

Human Beings must not have rights that are immoral or anti-social in nature. ‘Human’ rights are rights to humanness (Ubuntu). ‘Human’ rights therefore have a context. Human rights are established to protect and foster the human architecture and to guard against dehumanization.

In a democratic age, we are seeing ‘human rights’ crossing ethical boundaries as people begin to demand that which is not ethical in nature. If people can demand a right to abortion then they can demand a right to kill and steal. The point is, we can not afford to allow a political process that has no moral context.

The Ethics-Freedoms Equation: Avoiding Dehumanization

The stability of the human race is in the balancing of ethics and freedoms. Ethics actually give a proper context for human freedoms and rights. Whenever human freedoms and rights are taken out of ethical boundaries, then they become the source of destruction for the human race.

Ethics refer to philosophical principles that govern human behaviour. These principles are encoded in human conscience. These are the principles that restrict human beings from certain behaviour and acts. For instance, ‘not to kill’ is a universal ethical standard locked up in human conscience. Human beings don’t actually need a documented law forbidding them to kill. This is the law of the conscience. It therefore shapes or should shape human thinking and treats ‘killing’ as a no go area. Ethics therefore refer to a value system of the conscience and thought patterns of the mind.

On the other hand, human freedoms and rights refer to structural political systems that serve as support mechanisms for human beings to express not just their wishes but humanness. Human freedoms and rights are established to protect and foster the manifestation of humanness.

Humanness or ‘Ubuntu’ is what defines ethics. Humanness is the cosmetic manifestation of the value system of the conscience.

So therefore if in the old South Africa I could not relate with a White person, this was then a serious violation of my right to sociality as a Social Being. In that sense Apartheid was not just depriving me of my wishes and likes but of fundamental rights to life. I could not live without the ability to relate across race and that constraint necessitated for the struggle against what I perceived as injustice.

Human freedoms and rights are political systems because politics is the science of human and earthly governance. And so issues that relate to human governance constitute politics. In this sense, God is the Pioneer and the Basis of true politics.

The ethics-freedoms equation is an understanding that human rights & freedoms are based on humanness or ethics. That is, humanness is the basis and framework of human rights and freedoms.

When men begin to demand rights and freedoms that have no ethical basis, then they are violating the human architecture. Imagine if the cow demands a right to make cat noises. This would be a demand that is outside of the architecture of ‘cow’ life.

The dilemma of democracy is when people demand that which is clearly unethical, e.g. homosexuality etc. Such rights are really no rights but immoral desires and lusts of human beings. Such rights become the basis for dehumanization.

This implies that, with the present framework of democracy, human beings can use political-legal means to validate immoral behaviour that is forbidden by the conscience.

Democracy as a political system of governance must therefore be reconstituted to have moral sense because it’s a system of human governance; and human beings are moral beings.

Some Important Principles on the Ethics-Freedom Equation

· The reality of human life is that there are ethical boundaries that we need to always honour. These boundaries must be reflected in our social, political, legal and economic systems and processes.

· Values, ethics and morals take priority over human desires, needs and crisis. Can you steal because you are hungry? Can you legalise prostitution because you are trying to create employment? Can you legalise abortion so that those who are pressed with some crises can always have a choice to abort?

· We always have to strike a balance between those things that can benefit us and ethics. Benefits must be interpreted in the light of ethics.

· Behind the decay of the human race is the violation of ethical standards – whether you are talking about problems relating to unrestricted business explosion and global warming, business corruption & the collapse of businesses, corrupt governments and humanitarian crises, sexual immorality and the advance of HIV etc. Lack of ethics and morals is the common root problem of human crises in the 21^st century.

Religion, Human Conscience and Governance

We cannot talk about governing the nation without talking about ethics and morals because human beings are moral beings. Governments are God’s agents given a mandate, among other things, of commending good and punishing evil in the land.

Although government’s duty is to ensure morality in the land, they must however not enforce or impose religions of their choice through laws. They must build systems that educate people on ethics.

All Human beings have a common source of values and principles and that is human conscience, regardless of their religion. Humans get their value system primarily from conscience. That is, the thing making humans not to kill, steal and ill treat each other is primarily their conscience and secondarily laws of the country.

Human conscience is the platform for governance. In fact God says human beings must submit to the government not because of their religion but because of their conscience.

So therefore human conscience and not religion, becomes the platform for governance.

Authenticating our Struggle

Moral pursuit was the essence of our struggle. Apartheid was not just regarded as a bad system of governance but it was classified as evil. Bad and evil are two different things. Therefore those who participated in the struggle were driven primarily by a sense of right and wrong as opposed to just political zeal.

The struggle against apartheid was a morally based political course. When our fathers took on the apartheid government, they were driven by a moral conviction in their conscience as opposed to just mental logic. Tools like Freedom Charter were not an expression of human cleverness but of conscience and ethics.

A conscience driven political process is what gave birth to our globally celebrated new South Africa. We therefore have a moral obligation to protect those principles that guided the course of the struggle. Our fathers fought for a new South Africa which would be shared by all as opposed to the old South Africa which belonged to the few. They fought for a liberated South Africa that would be morally compliant. We have to protect South Africa from being hijacked by elements that did not form part of the foundations of the struggle.

If freedom was seen by our fathers in an ethical context, then we have to protect this in a post apartheid dispensation. The democratic dispensation that was fought for was one that would be ethically compliant. No body went to the streets because they wanted abortion. People went to the streets and died because they wanted to see freedom, justice and morality in the land.

The Generational Gap: One of the issues of generational gap is when new generations fail to understand or build upon the agenda of former generations.

Judges 2:10&11

10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD

This problem of generational gap can be caused either by the outgoing generation not effectively transferring the values and agenda that must be pursued and built or the incoming generation consciously deviating from a continuous pursuit of goals initiated by former generations.

Can South Africa really fall into a trap of forgetting…?

Morality and the Model of Governance

If governments have this basic duty to ensure that the value system of its citizens is in tact, as defined by human conscience, then the government needs a system of governance that ensures that it (government) is able to do its job as required by God.

If the duty is to ensure that there is morality then what system do you need to ensure that as government you are able to achieve your goal?

We have got to define such a model either by fine-tuning democracy or by searching for a new model.

As it is, democracy has been stripped off its moral armour and constantly fails to address issues at a moral level. We have to remember that politics is essentially a moral subject because it deals with humans who are moral beings.

Law & Democracy

Law is built upon a philosophical platform that there is right and wrong. That is, if one is found to have committed that which is wrong, then they must be punished. The question of right and wrong is a question of ethics and morals. Therefore law is built upon the wisdom of human conscience, which is a superior wisdom available to the human race.

Democracy on the other hand, caters for humans by establishing human freedoms and rights. This is not only good, but it is essential; however the problem begins when humans use democracy to mobilise for unethical freedoms.

This makes us find ourselves in a dilemma; a political-legal dilemma.

If a group of people can mobilise a right that is clearly immoral in nature and thus legalise unethical practices, what then is the point of law?

Law in a Democratic Environment: It has got to be clear that law is not just a bunch of good ideas that we can do without. Law is not a mere reflection of human cleverness. To forbid people from killing one another is no good idea; it is an imperative of life based on human conscience and therefore the nature of God.

Law, in its most liberal form, must still be interpreted within the context of ethics and morals. Freedoms and human rights have moral and ethical obligations. This should guide the interpretation of our constitution on issues like abortion and, homosexuality.

In a democratic context, there is this idea that law is a generic entity that can be altered anytime as long as there is a majority that demands such alternations. In fact, democracy no longer really goes only by the majority rule, but also the minority rule. What we see is that a small group of people can mobilise itself and successfully demand a particular right.

And so in a democratic environment, law has no default position but it is just a formless entity that can be altered anytime to suite the demands of a particular generation. If you can legalise almost anything (through a political process) then what is the point of law in the first place because law assumes that there are allowable and forbidden things. Law is by nature not an open ended thing; you cannot have law on good governance and another law permitting bad governance.

The objective of law should be to uphold moral standards and to protect the human architecture. If we have laws against killing, stealing, abuse of other people, we don’t just have good ideas, but these are legal systems that help us protect and uphold the human race.

Law suggests that we live in a realm of absolutes and not by relativism. In the eyes of law, killing becomes killing; stealing become stealing. We don’t excuse those who steal because they don’t have food.

That is, law is not conditional in its philosophical nature. If this is the nature of law, then our democracy has got to flow within a certain direction in order to conform to this legal process. Democracy must not cripple law. When we begin to legalise things that have no ethical basis, then law has been crippled. Instead of upholding humanness, it has become a tool for licensing immorality. Then what is the point of law?

So therefore in a democratic environment, law proves to be the licensing of the demands of the people; whether right or wrong. In its original sense, law is supposed to be providing external guidelines that conform to those of the conscience.

The supreme law of a nation is firstly its conscience, then its documented constitution. If you deactivate the conscience, you may have million of laws; you will still have crises. Whereas when you activate the conscience through teaching values, you are still better off, even though you may not have an effective legal and judicial system.

The rule of the conscience is what our fathers called Ubuntu. Ubuntu refers to a system of thought and a value system that channels human behaviour to a certain (predictable) direction. Ubuntu became culture because everybody bought to the process. Just by Ubuntu, our forefathers achieved most things that we find difficult to achieve today even though we have documented laws. We do not read of them having high levels of crime, unless the unfolding of history proves otherwise. This shows how far you can go just by building a value system and a tight criminal justice system, even though you may not have sophisticated laws in paper.

Synchronising the Political and Legal Processes: we clearly have a challenge to synchronise these two processes so that we produce a stable society. Law must not become a system of licensing (unethical) demands but must remain anchored in human conscience. Modernisation must not be the deactivation of our ancient values (which are the values of our Creator). We have got to fight dehumanisation and contend for the architecture of the human race, for the future wellbeing of the upcoming generations and the earth.

Morality & the 21^st Century

There is another reality that is emerging in the 21^st century, and that is a reality of moral consciousness. Across the globe, there is a new fresh talk about morals and ethics. Leadership standards are being redefined in the midst of corruption and a values-based leadership is a new model that even the business is digesting. Right inside our country, the moral regeneration movement is taking off.

These developments point to the fact that the 21^st century is a moral age.

The next question becomes the question of moral reform; because if the 21^st century is a moral age, then all of life needs to be restructured to fit into this reality.

So too must our models of governance be adjusted. We have to redefine democracy and human rights in an environment of moral intensity; for we cannot pursue values and not put systems and processes in place that become support mechanisms for our agreed pursuits. Failure to put in place such mechanisms and processes would mean that we are hypocrites, making the right noise but living something else.

The 21^st century moral consciousness forces us to redesign our political framework, i.e. politics must also be put into the moral basket.

All these things reveal that we either reform our democratic framework or seek a new political frontier that still gives people participative governance, transparency, accountability, equality, human rights, freedom without crossing ethical boundaries.

____________________________________________

3. Merging Political Deliverance with National Development (A Warning to Consider…!)

While South Africa celebrates her history of wonderful transition into the post apartheid dispensation, there has got to be a corresponding demonstration of the ability to actualise this dispensation by building relevant and effective governance, business and civil models.

Africa is guilty of delivering people from one form of bondage (colonisation) only to bring them into another form of bondage (dictatorship, warlordism, corruption etc.).

Can South Africa be able to break this political pattern in order to demonstrate a new pattern, that people can be freed and then be developed?

Identifying the Problem: A Pharisee Political Model

Matthew 23:1-3, 13&15

1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3 So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

13 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

15 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

‘You travel over land and see to win a single convert’: Here we see a political leadership that is able to mobilise resources in order to free people; a leadership that can engage a sacrificial life for the sake of deliverance of others.

This of course is one thing that we celebrate in South Africa. In our history books, we read of men and women who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of the people. This is something that we will continue to treasure regarding our history. Some of these men and women died in the course of the struggle. These were men and women who were driven not by pursuit of positions but by a pursuit for justice. Their course was godly and we will continue to honour them for having responded boldly to the call against injustice.

‘You travel over land and see to win a single convert and when he becomes one you make him twice the son of hell as you are’: One sad thing that can ever happen is for South Africa not to be able to realise the very dreams and goals that our fathers saw with the eyes of their hearts. They saw a South Africa that could only be described then as Utopia. And they stayed true to their vision, mobilised themselves against forces that looked impossible to defeat. Their strength was not so much their weapons; it was a sense of justice in their hearts. Although the apartheid government had all the necessary resources to fight these freedom fighters, it could not win because it was fighting against the very principles of creation, the principles of God.

You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are: Is it possible that South Africa can be counted among those nations that have successfully moved out of bondage only to move into another form of bondage. Is it possible that the lives we lost in the struggle against apartheid were lost for nothing?

This ability to bring political deliverance without a subsequent national development is one sad political reality that any people or nation can ever find themselves. It creates deception in the minds of people, where everybody thinks that because they were delivered, then they are better. South Africa must guard against this; and we must be able to demonstrate a new pattern for some of our sister nations in Africa.

Key Characteristics of this Deficient Political Leadership Model¹

What are the symptoms that indicate that a nation is falling or has fallen into this trap of failing to translate political deliverance into effective strategic national development?

· The issue of occupying positions without necessarily providing leadership: This is when we become position as opposed to leadership or service oriented. We then spend more time, effort and resources mobilising for positions and less time on real issues of service.

· The issue of seeking to please the masses even at the expense of justice and national political agenda: Whilst politics is rightly people-centred and focused, it should however not try to please the masses to the point where critical national issues are put on line.

When we become position oriented, we are bound to be men pleasers. The issue of securing political favour by seducing the masses is as bad as dictatorship. The very reason why we have leaders is so that we can have people who will be responsible and accountable to drive the national agenda forward, within the context of a people centred approach. True service delivery is not a mere response to the lusts of the masses but the execution of programmes that have been identified through collective wisdom and honest assessment of the conditions of the people.

· The issue of turning political positions into means for personal gain: This is basically about becoming corrupt in the process of leading and governing.

Kofi Anan says corruption hurts the poor disproportionately by diverting funds intended for development, undermining a government’s ability to provide basic services, feeding inequality and injustice, and discouraging foreign investment (Aboveboard, Issue No. 2, November/December 2005: 19).

· A cosmetic political process that focuses only on external political achievements, neglecting the primacy of the quality of life that must be built (absence of philosophy and civilisation).

We need to see a political process that engages people in a civilisation with an objective of improving lives. Good governance is not measured only by the programmes we do but primarily by the citizens we build.

Patterns of an Authentic Political Deliverance

Moses (a political deliverer to the people of Israel), in many ways, demonstrates principles that should characterise a political deliverance that is sustainable.

Moses grew up in a political crisis when his own people were in bondage under the Egyptian nation and was able to lead a political revolution that saw a deliverance of his nation.

Acts 7:20-37

20 "At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for in his father's house. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

23 "When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defence and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realise that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, 'Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?'

Hebrews 11:23-28

23 By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.

24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

NIV

· Moses grew inside the system that was responsible for the oppression of his own people; enjoying all the privileges in the palace.

· As he was growing, he began to be emotionally attached to his people; to the point that one day he killed an Egyptian that was fighting a Jew.
What do we see here, politics that is based on zeal and emotions as opposed to seeing a model of building. It does not help to bring deliverance without seeing a model of building. In fact, this tends to worsen the situation. Political deliverers must not operate from emotions and zeal only but primarily from sight (wisdom) of better political models.

· Moses identified himself with the people (he chose to be mistreated along with his people).

Identity is an important element of effective reformational leadership. Christ had to be born of a woman in order to redeem the human race. He had to be made like his brothers; he had to go through the same difficulties and experiences like his brothers, so that through sympathy and identity, he would deliver his people.

· Moses chose suffering not for the sake of suffering but out of seeing (a) injustice and (b) a proper political model that people had to be built into.

· Moses became of age (matured) and went into exile.

This reveals a political process that is driven by sight, wisdom and maturity as opposed to just emotions and zeal. Africa may have to face the fact that most people who have led were not people who had answers (models) to the problems, but it was people who only had the ability to drive the struggle. Mobilising masses against injustice is radically different to mobilising citizens for national building. What is critical is for the political leadership to identify its diverse strengths. Some are only good in delivering, some are good in building. Whilst those who deliver must be honoured for their sacrifice, this however does not mean that they always possess ability to rebuild their nations.

· Moses was looking ahead of his time; he saw the temporality of the Egyptian system; that although it looked strong and grand it would not last. And so Moses left Egypt.

Moses’ political process was really driven by seeing the political model of the future. And when the future came, Moses was not only able to deliver his people but he was also able to take them through the journey towards the fulfilment of his goals. This became the core of his political struggle against an empire.

Administering the Political Journey

· Moses was able to free, lead and develop disempowered masses of people.

· All that these masses could do was to complain, comparing Moses’ infant government with the Egyptian ancient government.

Whenever we compare new accurate political models with old inaccurate models; the new ones will always fail the test. However, a wiseman says it is foolish to say that the old days were better.² It is therefore unfair to place unrealistic demands on new infant models. The strength of new models is not so much in their ability to deliver but their correctness. As long as they are built correctly, they are bound to eventually deliver.

· Moses began to build systems of governance that were not necessarily perfect but that were compatible with the level of growth of the nation.
The beauty of the models that are built is determined by the state of the people. Because Moses was leading disempowered masses that had been in slavery for more than 400 years, he had to build models that were characterised by bureaucracy.

That is, even though people are declared free, they slowly walk into the reality of freedom. Freedom is not defined only by having liberal law; freedom is the state of the people. When people began to demonstrate maturity, David came in later and built a system of governance that was free from bureaucracy. So the bureaucracy of Moses was established to help the level of growth of the nation. Movement from the system of Moses to that of David was pointing to the issue of progressive governance.

· There has got to be patience as the political process develops. People must actually be educated on this issue

The Issue of Strategic Succession

This has been another major problem in Africa. Can South Africa fall into the same trap?

· Moses understood that his political mandate was to take the people out of slavery (colonialism and apartheid).

· Although he demonstrated zeal to take them to the Promised Land, he exercised restraint.

· At the right time, he set in Joshua to take over the leadership baton.

· Joshua had been an aide of Moses, he was not just a ‘stranger’; he was therefore:

o Equipped.

o Acquainted with leadership patterns and the traditions of the national governance.

o Aware of the evolution of the political agenda.

Deuteronomy 34:9

9 Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the LORD had commanded Moses.

NIV

· Moses ensured that, while he was still alive, he imparted all the necessary wisdom into Joshua.

· Joshua was now building upon the experience of Moses; and this ensured continuity.

· Because of his demonstrated wisdom, people listened to him.

Succession is one important factor in merging political deliverance with national development. For lack of strategic, timeous succession, Africa has suffered. Will South Africa become another victim?

Succession does not just deal with handing over positions. It is about right individuals taking over at the right time, fully empowered to advance the political course. Like Moses-Joshua, David-Solomon & Mandela-Mbeki, we need to be able to hand over governmental responsibility not because of death, and therefore not in absentia, but because the time has come for others to run with the baton.

Merging Political Deliverance & National Development:

Some key Principles

It is never the nature of God to take people or a nation out of one bad experience only to bring them to another bad experience. God always has an alternative, a better plan. Let’s see the following principles:

· Every uprooting and destroying must be accompanied by planting and building. And so political revolutions must base their strength not on bringing freedom only but also on the subsequent building of new civilisations that are radically different to the old ones.

· The process of political deliverance is based upon identifying deficiencies in the (former environments) and how these cause bad conditions for people.

· True basis for political deliverance is not only in the identifying of past deficiencies but also in the production of new better systems or models.

· New political models must not have traces of the old; even though we can draw good patterns from old systems; the philosophical configuration of new models has got to be different to that of former environments (for instance, the new South Africa cannot afford to feel and taste like old South Africa in terms of its political system, laws & culture).

· New political models must prove to be more effective particularly in the area of human development.

· For laws to be effective, they must be built upon a strong philosophical foundation, where their (laws’) general reasoning is reflected in people’s mentalities; so that there is synchronisation between law and society, to the point where people become the manifestation of our law (provided such law meets the basic social and moral standards).

· This political process is not without a more effective education system; an education system that does not just dish out information but that crafts the philosophy of the nation. Such an education system needs a new administrator, a new teacher. The teacher has got to be trained to transfer philosophy as opposed to just information.

· A philosophically based education system does produce a submissive society. That is, when people are made to understand (through dialogue, education and training) the importance of national values, they will tend to comply. On the other hand, dictatorial systems tend to produce rebellion. People will resist anything that seeks to force them to do certain things without providing an understanding first.

· New political models must remove a class based system and bring equalisation. Knowledge must not be channelled to the rich, leaving the poor illiterate. In a purely capitalistic environment, although the government may not set laws that encourage for empowerment to be accessed only by the rich, the ‘market forces’ will inevitably lead to that injustice. And so if we want all to be empowered, regardless of their economic class:

o We need to continue to build accessible education.

o We need to ensure that educational institutions are available even in the territories of the poor.

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Notes

¹ You may read Mathew chapter 23 to see traits of Phariseesm and hypocrisy as it relates to leadership. These traits manifest in political, business, social and religious contexts.

² Ecclesiastes 7:10 (The Bible).

4. Socio-Economism: Towards a Socially Compliant Economic Model

A search must continue to define and build socio-economic models that work. Neither communism nor capitalism matches the profile of macro-economic models that need to be built in this 21^st century.

While communism rightly pushes the need for economic stewardship and equalisation; it however cripples societies and takes away their right and obligation to engage the economic course without being greedy and irresponsible. A government driven economic process tends to kill not only the potential of economies but also of the citizens. We can not remove the need for personal ownership of the means of production; perhaps what we can push for is ownership through stewardship, where citizens understand their socialistic responsibilities to take care of their fellow citizens.

On the other hand, capitalism has been successful in engaging citizens and nations on the economic course and in producing material economic results but has unfortunately tended to produce damaged societies as a result of a ruthless economic process founded upon an unethical principle of ‘the survival of the fittest’.

Ezekiel 34:17-22

17 "'As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? 19 Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?

20 "'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, 22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. NIV

Capitalism is not just an economic theory to be left to economists. The reality is that capitalism has shaped the landscape of society; because of capitalism parents are sacrificing their children in pursuit for more rand, the education system is becoming a producer of workers and entrepreneurs instead of civilisation. The business has lost human face and has become a shapeless beast as organisations, employees and CEOs forsake ethics in order to pursue profits and higher salaries. Corruption and crime levels have gone up as more people seek quick solutions to wealth. Capitalism has basically made money to be the reason and not a means of living.

Our President has rightly connected the issue of corruption to this issue of desire for wealth.

Perhaps, needless to say, the government will remain focused on the challenge to fight corruption in the public sector and in society at large. We will continue to intensify our offensive on this front, fully aware of the fact that much that happens in our society encourages the entrenchment of a value system based on personal acquisition of wealth by all means and at all cost (T.M. Mbeki: State of the Nation Address, 2006).

If this is the case, capitalism can no longer be left to the economist, but demands attention by all citizens. We need to do a cost-benefit analysis to see whether this economic system is doing us good or bad.

History tells us that capitalistic thinking was in fact the defining philosophy for the peoples of Sodom & Gomorrah.

Luke 17:28-29

28 "It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulphur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

NIV

Ezekiel 16:49-50

49 "'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. NIV

Although there were many entrepreneurs (planters and builders), and although people had a strong buying power; there was this general neglect of the poor which was caused by greed and lack of social responsibility by both citizens and corporate Sodom & Gomorrah.

Disregard for the poor in the name of survival of the fittest can no longer help us as we continue to pursue a new and better socio-economic civilisation in the 21^st century.

Towards a new Socio-economic Frontier: ASGISA Principles

ASGISA (Accelerated & Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa) carries some important philosophical principles that must not only usher the nation into a new socio-economic economic thinking but that must also shape the very existence of our society. In looking at the philosophical framework of this new socio-economic initiative, we realise that this must be taken not just as a government’s programme but as a form of socio-economic civilisation.

ASGISA brings two very important components together; one being the acceleration of economic growth and the other being the sharing of economic growth. As such, ASGISA integrates a Capitalistic drive with Social agenda. This is very important because the authenticity of economic growth is not only in the realisation of more wealth but also in the equitable and sustainable administration (or distribution) of such wealth.

Sustainable equity¹ deals with the way in which economic resources are channelled to the poor. A nation can choose to provide ‘bread’ by giving more of social grants every month. This may not be sustainable and can in fact drain the economic system over time. A sustainable way of channelling economic resources is that of providing ‘economic grants’ (i.e. providing skills through costless training (e.g. SETAS), providing economic opportunities through procurement), so that the poor accesses economic resources via economic participation (work, business operations etc.) as opposed to begging.

It is vital for our national objectives that the growth generated should also improve the lives of the poorest South Africans (Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Business Times, 2 April 2006: 9).

These words by the Deputy President further describe for us this second aspect of ASGISA (the sharing of growth). The issue of creating systems in order to share wealth created is an imperative for any nation.

…although the social grant programme has given significant impetus to poverty reduction and income redistribution, there remain about a third of South African households not yet able to benefit directly from our economic advances. Bringing this sector of the population into the mainstream economy will considerably enhance our growth potential (Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Media Briefing on ASGISA, 2006).

The wisdom of ASGISA therefore is in going beyond the term growth, to identify the effects and coverage of such growth. It is in going beyond the upward sloping economic graphs to understand whether there is in fact a balanced distribution of the growth realised.

This is the economic thinking that must be embraced and taught to upcoming generations, that economics is not about the survival of the fittest, but it’s about both the creation of wealth and the ensuring of the wellbeing of the nation. The following principles represented in ASGISA must be taught to the citizens in general and to economics students in particular:

· The issue of developing a work ethic in order to create wealth as opposed to maintaining a politically based economic passivity and unrealistic expectations by the people (on the government).

· The issue of using economic results to advance the social course (social development).

^· The issue of economic activation through the creation and channelling of economic opportunities to poorer groups of society (e.g. public works programme). This is also the issue of broadening the socio-economic system by bringing in marginalised groups of society.²

· The issue of the socio-economic burden that is upon the economically better groups of society, to ensure that poorer citizens are taken care of (taxes, corporate social responsibility initiatives etc.).

· The issue of a proactive economic leadership by government, to ensure that certain specific results are realised in the economy.

· The issue of integrating economic growth with political (economic equalisation) and social agenda (social development); that we can in fact fix socio-political crises whilst ensuring a growing economy.

The Effects of ‘Accelerated’ and ‘Shared’ Growth

1. Economic Growth: is about creating wealth so that the nation can be self sustaining, not having to rely on foreign aid for survival. A growing economy further helps the government meet its socio-political obligations and service delivery targets.

2. Economic Redistribution: This ensures that the growth produced does not fall into the hands of the elite only but is enjoyed by the wider society; primarily through government’s tax or fiscal programme.

3. Social Development: This marks the direct effects on the poor and needy. The channelling of economic resources to this group empowers them so that they take care of their basic needs.

4. Economic Activation, Empowerment & Mobilisation: This is further caused by social development; where people get skills, know-how, acquire capital as they get ready to participate in the economy.

Principles of Socio-Economism

When Moses had delivered the people from the Egyptian bondage, he had to define and build new political and socio-economic models that were different to the Egyptian Model.

The Social Injustice-Economic Growth Dilemma: The Egyptian Model could produce economic growth, targets were set and met, and yet the reality was that people were being abused right inside the system.³ Whilst the economist was praising the nation for achieving economic growth, people were crying under intense suffering. What was the problem? The government had built an economic system that could deliver results but without adherence to social justice. It abused the masses in order to benefit the the few; it gave the masses enough economic benefits to keep them going.

As people journeyed towards a new land (under the leadership of Moses); they began to mourn because of apparent economic crisis; not only did they mourn, they also began to remember the little benefits they had enjoyed in the former Egyptian economic system. (This somehow captures the South African process of moving from an old unjust economic system to a new economic dispensation).

It was here that God began to define and introduce them into a new economic system that was based on the principles of justice, equality, social responsibility and inclusive economic participation. This economic system was neither communistic nor capitalistic. It combined strong social values with aggressive economic activism; it was therefore socio-economism.

This economic model was revealed in the story of manna.⁴

This economic model therefore outlines for us key principles that should be reflected in any economic system. What are these principles?

• The issue of equality of citizens in the economic process (as all people had access or could participate in the collection of manna).

The principle established was that everybody had equal access to economic opportunity and activity. However, equality cannot and must not only be a political right, there must be processes put in place to ensure that all people are empowered to participate (e.g. BEE, AA, transferring of Skills etc.). Otherwise it does not help to have a right and not be empowered to enjoy it. It therefore remains a key responsibility of the nation in the second decade and beyond, to intensify the equipping of the previously disadvantaged so that they can participate and enjoy their political freedoms.

While we could secure political equality in an instant of voting, economic equalisation becomes a process that we have to engage over a period of time until we win.

Human development through education and training becomes one key resource that must help us realise economic equalisation. We therefore do need an education system that is effectively run, able to produce for the nation relevant human resources. We have got to aggressively open doors especially for those who are not economically able, so that they access education and training without cost.

• The right and obligation of all citizens to engage in economic activity (as people had to come out of their houses to collect manna for themselves).

We have got to build a new economic philosophy, one that promotes initiative, pioneering and a good work ethic. People must realise soon that the government cannot dish everything for them. The government is there to build the nation, guard the nation, provide basic services etc. The government cannot provide jobs for everybody. We need a new citizen, who has an entrepreneurial spirit and eye, able to transform environmental challenges into business opportunities. We need a citizen who is a steward and servant in communities, able to pioneer community projects, source funding and provide services to communities. We need a citizen who has a good work ethic, able to contribute to new profit margins in his/her business organisation.

• The issue of training citizens to be entrepreneurial, to be able to see business and economic opportunities as people had to see manna for themselves.

People have got to be trained to approach life with an entrepreneurial mind. This will help them identify business opportunities easily. Business is all about serving the needs of the people. It is really about transforming environmental challenges into business opportunities.

• The issue of a work ethic that ensures that breadwinners are able to take care of their households (each one had to gather according to the needs of his/her households).

• The issue of government functioning as a watchdog in the economic process – i.e. strategic economic leadership. (Moses and community leaders had to provide oversight in the economic process to ensure that things were going according to plan).

The government must continue to be a watchdog on economic processes; identifying problems and coming up with macro-economic solutions (through policies, legislations & other national structures & initiatives) so that there is economic order. If the government folds its hands and allows ‘market forces’ to drive the economy, then we are bound to have problems. We are bound to have marginalisation of groups of our society. ‘Market forces’ are nothing but people’s perceptions & preferences. That is, ‘market forces’ represent ungovernable choices of human nature.
For example, if (in a South African context) you want to bring business equalisation, what should be your approach? Should you live everything to market forces or should you drive the process through legislation.

Let’s say that you have a white businessman who has been doing business for a long time with another white partner and has grown to be comfortable in that particular business partnership. What will be the ‘market force’ in a case of the need for BEE? This white businessman will obviously prefer to continue doing business with his white counterpart. Now in this situation, how would you drive BEE agenda relying only on ‘market forces’ This is one of many examples revealing that in any economy (in both developing & developed nations), there will always be a valid need for a degree of government’s intervention to ensure that the economy is steered to the right direction. This is because we don’t just want any economic growth; we want economic growth that complies to the objectives of social justice. It does not help to achieve figures and see graphs going up when certain elements of the nation are suffering. Economic systems need leadership so that they don’t just achieve any results but specific relevant results that are needed in a particular nation. Otherwise you may well achieve economic growth only through foreigners, with your citizens being nothing but economic ‘slaves’ in their own land.

• Although some gathered much and some little, when measured; those who gathered little did not have too little and those who gathered too much, did not have much – this is the issue of economic equalisation; the issue of transferring or redistribution of wealth from rich to poor groups of societies (e.g. through taxation).

2 Corinthians 8:13-15

13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, 15 as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."

This transfer of wealth is achieved via fiscal programmes. That is, you cannot just rely on voluntary corporate social investments. The redistribution of wealth received through taxes remains a critical issue in any nation.

So that economic equalisation is also achieved through wealth redistribution through a government’s fiscal programme. Those who have more should contribute more tax so that government can then facilitate for wealth redistribution. Paying tax should become a patriotic culture and philosophy as opposed to a burden; as long as the government is acting within reasonable boundaries and is able to account for the usage of public finance, we must keep up to our responsibility to pay tax.

• The issue of producing citizens who have a strong economic orientation coupled with social responsibility (promoting voluntary corporate social investments).

Whilst we push for the economic philosophy of economic growth through people-centred economic activity; we do not deny that there will be those who achieve more than others. However, the rich people of our nation as well as corporations must have a social obligation to those who have little.

One of the principles that the human race has lost over the centuries is that of brotherhood and social responsibility. And this is reflected well in Cain’s statement, ‘am I my brother’s keeper’. Failure to engage socio-economic responsibility towards your brothers is another form of hatred rooted upon Cainism. So therefore a Cainistic society is that society that is fragmented economically, a society of classes; a society whose rich people have no socio-economic obligation towards their poor fellow citizens.

The principle of ‘Good Samaritan’ also communicates very aggressively this principle of socio-economic obligation towards one another. These are principles and philosophies that we need to teach to our kids if we are to have a healthy nation in the future. They are in line with the spirit of Ubuntu that characterised the civilisation of our forefathers.

Socio-economic responsibility and obligation must be taught at school, so that by the time kids are old, they understand the principle (as opposed to the ‘burden’) of taking care of their poor fellow citizens.

• The issue of economic sustainability (Each morning, everyone had to go out to collect manna)

We are talking about a sustainable economic process. For an economic process to be sustainable, it must be driven by people as opposed to government. Whilst job creation through public works programmes is key, it is however not sustainable. You will not always be building roads and buildings. What happens when public works projects are over? How do fathers and mothers continue to feed their children? For economic growth to be sustainable, we need economic activism by people.

The Creator talks about two forms of empowerment; ‘seed for the sower’ and ‘bread for eater’. Bread for the eater is a short term form of empowerment that is not sustainable. Seed for the sower is a long term form of empowerment that is sustainable. Bread for the eater implies that the person empowered is not a participator in the economy whereas the seed for the sower implies that the person empowered is a participator (a sower) in the economy. The big question is how can we transition the society and economy from bread for the eater realm to a seed for the sower realm?

Within our social grants mix, we need to have more (economic) grants aimed at activating people economically (seeds for sowers) and fewer (social) grants that are just breads for eaters. The government must be more aggressive on offering bursaries and other grants that are a ‘seed type’. Perhaps ‘bread type’ of social grants should be reserved for the elderly, disempowered poor citizens and the physically challenged. However, this does not mean that these three groups must have no access to ‘seed type’ grants.

All unemployed graduates should be challenged to start at least social projects for their communities (even if they don’t get immediate economic benefits) and upon establishing validity of such projects, be helped with ‘seeds’ (finances & other resources) to run such projects. No graduate should be sitting at home when the nation has so many crises. The government and business can then at least pledge their commitment and support to such community initiatives and programmes.

These things will help us secure sustainability in our economy.

• The Sabbatical principle.

People had to find time to rest. This is important if we are serious about balancing economic activity, ethics and family-community values.

How do we justify a father leaving his family to work in the mines and probably seeing his family three or four times a year? In this context, yes we have created a job opportunity and secured economic growth but have at the same time killed the family unit. The son of this father will grow up not knowing manhood and fatherhood, and with time, the country will suffer from moral decay. Moreover, we are increasing chances of the father or mother becoming unfaithful in the marriage (through adultery). We need to aggressively remove those things that cause people to live immorally.

The mines industry has an obligation to build family support systems (e.g. houses for relocation options so that families stay together) for all those fathers working in the mines; whether we do this by taking a portion from salaries or company offering as part of social responsibility, it doesn’t matter; the issue is, as a matter of principle, we need to do this.

We can no longer celebrate economic forces that are insensitive to ethics, human and family values. Economics, business, people and ethics must be integrated to produce one coherent unit, so that when we say economic growth, we actually mean figures plus the preservation of humanity and values. Economics can no longer be just an independent science; it has got to be integrated with other elements of society.

In this regard, a first world country is not only that country with higher economic growth figures, but it’s also a country that is able to build systems that ensure humanness & healthy communities.

People and communities must be given time to relate, interact and be able to enjoy together their economic labour without compromising the process of production. At the same time, production centres (businesses/ factories) must have an ethical obligation to their people (human resource) and integrate the production process with ethics and family values. E.g. we need to see more organisations (those that can afford) offering crèches for the kids of their employees etc. We need to see traditional workforces or employees being managed more as ‘corporate communities’ (because that is what they are) so that the production process incorporates values of human life. These things will make work more enjoyable and thus increase productivity. So therefore Sabbatical principle or philosophy is not just about creating leave days for employees but it’s also about employing creative means to integrate human values in the process of business and production.

• All of these are actually Messianic principle.

John 6:51

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” NIV

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Notes

¹ The Principle of Sustainable equity is actually part of God’s idea of economic processes. The

following books (Deuteronomy 24:14-22, Leviticus 19:9-10 & 23:23, Ruth chapter 2 of the Bible)

reveal that the poor must not just sit down and be passive (begging from the rich), but that

their provision must also come through economic participation.

² Principles of economic activation & empowerment for the poor can also be found in the books of

Deuteronomy 24:14-22, Leviticus 19:9-10 & 23:23, Ruth chapter 2 (The Bible).

³ Exodus chapter 1 (The Bible).

⁴ Exodus chapter 16 and 1 Cor 8:13-15 (The Bible).

5. The Moral Regeneration Movement: A Timeous Pilgrimage for the Peoples of South Africa

It little profits a nation to boast about thousands of teachers, doctors, lawyers, nurses, priests, mechanics, engineers and all kinds of skilled persons if these are devoid of moral values. Did Nazi Germany not boast of a similarly skilled citizenry? Yet it was the same professional and skilled persons that were turned into monsters that sent helpless people to gas chambers, conducted experiments on human bodies without their consent and mercilessly killed people for being different from them (Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, July 2000).

Immorality is proving to be the root problem of the 21^st century crises; because whether you are talking about a corrupt CEO, entrepreneur or public servant, need for a values-based leadership, crime, domestic violence, global warming and our ethical obligation towards nature, or sexual immorality and its contribution to the advance of HIV & AIDS etc.; all these issues have a common root problem, and that is immorality.

There is another development that we are seeing in the 21^st century, a fresh new call for ethical values not just as a good idea but as an imperative for stable life; whether you are talking about political governance, leadership or business management. This development is making the 21^st century to be a moral age. Morality is inevitably becoming a central feature in the 21^st century. To deny this is to fail to understand the architecture of this present human age.

The Moral Regeneration Movement: we, in South Africa, are blessed to have a government, civil society and business who understand the reality of morality in the 21^st century. Hence we celebrate today the emerging of a new national force; the Moral Regeneration Movement; that is yet to shape the landscape of our land. We, as society, have an obligation to not only applause the emerging of this new movement, but to also do all in our power to support and participate in this new struggle for morality.

Defining Morality: When we talk about morals, we are talking about universal principles of the conscience that know no colour, gender or age. We all have in our conscience the principles of love, sharing, relating, protecting etc. These principles are the signature of our Creator. When we dehumanize human life, it’s when we deviate from the impulses of the conscience in order to enjoy our unguided desires and lusts. So that behind dehumanization and immorality is the question of lawlessness.

Implications of Moral Regeneration: Moral Regeneration is a form of societal and structural reform that suggests the ff.

· Something is terribly wrong about the present configuration of life; and this includes behaviours, lifestyle, systems and structures we have built (e.g. laws, organisations, thought systems etc.).

Moral Regeneration therefore implies that we have reached an agreement as a people and nation, that present conditions defining life must be urgently altered.

· Moral Regeneration implies that the human race is regaining a sense of right and wrong as we begin to see life through the eyes of morals.

· Moral Regeneration implies that we are rising to the standard of the wisdom of the conscience.

· Moral Regeneration implies that we have renounced immorality and have embraced morality.

· Moral Regeneration implies that there is something that the human race or we as a nation have lost over years; and this cannot just be the cultures and rituals of our forefathers but something deeper. This thing that we have lost over the years is the voice and wisdom of the conscience.

In this sense, Moral Regeneration must not be about a recollection of past traditions and rituals because these (former traditions & rituals) were an expression of the conscience of our forefathers. That is, there was something deeper than these traditions, and that was the values of the conscience. Cultures became a system of expressing human conscience. For instance, Ubuntu was a form of human civilisation expressing human conscience. And hence, you can’t just teach Ubuntu as a structural lifestyle, without calling people’s attention to the fundamental principles of conscience upon which such a civilisation was built. Otherwise all that you’ll end up with is a bunch of hypocrites who know the ‘ubuntu’ language without demonstrating philosophy and convictions associated with the civilisation.

The scary thing therefore would be a situation where we successfully recollect former traditions without necessarily achieving the goal of morality.

· Moral Regeneration implies that we have to calibrate life as defined in the 21^st century against ancient moral principles.

· Moral Regeneration must help us rediscover the architecture of the human race.

Moral Regeneration Movement – Philosophy vs. Rituals: History has taught us that human traditions can suffer from decay because they are not able to stand the test of time. Surely our goal presently is that of building a sustainable moral movement; a moral movement that can be transferred from generations to generations so that the human race does not ever find itself in the same pit of immorality again. If that is our goal, then we must be careful in our approach by emphasising more on the internal values and philosophy and less on external elements (cultures).

Morality and Human Civilisation: We have to make a difference between infrastructural-technological upgrade and human civilisation. Infrastructural-technological development may represent modernisation but it certainly is not human civilisation. That we now have computers is no indication that we are civilised. So therefore societies and nations may be modernised but still be backward in terms of civilisation.

Human civilisation defines a process where the human race locates a new frontier in life, making it represent better the nature of the Creator as reflected in human conscience.

A new life frontier implies the perfecting of our ability to live out the values, wisdom and impulses of our conscience.

And in fact, the emphasis of the Messianic mandate is not ‘religion’ as we know it today, but human civilisation.

2 Corinthians 5:16-17

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! NIV

The Messianic mandate is to take the human race to a new frontier of life, by renewing mentalities, engaging philosophical cleansing, and deactivating the principle of lawlessness so that we can have a new man (citizen) in the earth, who is equipped to demonstrate humanness or the human architecture as originally configured by the Creator in the beginning. This is the essence of redemption.

So therefore there can be no human civilisation without the upgrading of human values; i.e. moral decay implies absence of human civilisation.

If we still suffer from jealousy, competition, unforgiveness, hatred, back-biting, sexual immorality, ethnic-racial tensions etc. in our families, communities and organisations; then we are certainly moving backward.

Key components of Moral Regeneration:

· Moral Consciousness: there has got to be an awareness of morals and ethics. We need to begin to demonstrate and in a sense acknowledge or commend morality. Morality must become a value or treasure in our lives and society.

· Moral Reform: this awareness of ethics must be accompanied by a process of change.

· Moral Compliance: we must then want to engage a process of alignment, so that we practically comply with new moral standards.

· Moral Competence: this is a new competence that we need to develop by exercising morality. This competence helps us become resourceful citizens, effective employees/ business leaders & entrepreneurs, faithful public servants etc.

· Moral Wealth: as a nation, we need to begin to develop this as more people begin to buy into this moral process. Moral wealth speaks of a life process that is values-based. Those nations, governments, communities and organisations that have moral wealth will prove to be more stable than those who don’t.

Morality as an Imperative for Nation Building

Morality has got to be seen not just as an optional extra but as an imperative for nation building. It is certainly important in the following areas:

· Morality as a Social Imperative: there can be no social order, stability and wellbeing without morality. Most if not all of our social crises (domestic violence, rape, drug abuse etc.) imply a nation that is devoid of morality. We therefore need to build an ethical citizenry.

· Morality as an Economic Imperative: Lack of morality in a nation can choke economic growth. No entrepreneur can invest in a crime zone and those places that don’t enjoy economic investment suffer in terms of missed economic opportunity.

· Morality as a Business Imperative: How many CEOs today can boast about the moral quality of their employees, and how many employees can boast about the moral quality of their CEOs? Business corruption cannot be earned by eliminated by merely producing more MBA graduates. Beyond MBAs (which may be important), you still need a moral base. Recent corruption scandals that have hit the business community confirm this one issue, that managers and CEOs are not just those with great educational qualifications, experience and strategic competence, you have got to add values and ethics in the equation. Some if not most of business leaders are still poor on social and moral competence.

Building Moral Competence: The Moral Regeneration Movement is going to be important in building moral competence. Moreover, the following structures must be positioned as strategic tools for effective moralising of the nation:

· The Family Unit: Something needs to happen urgently about the family unit and the parenting process. Parents today mostly limit parenting to the provision of financial material resources to their kids. Parenting is a process of shaping minds and behaviour in order to produce future generations that are able to continue with the responsibilities of the human race.

We have got to do what we can to restore the family unit. We need to equip parents on parenting. And we need to restore the element of discipline on parenting.

· Community Structures: there has got to be collaboration at community level. Communities and their structures have got to have a voice on ethics and morals in order to enhance the family process.

· The Education System: we have to ensure that we do not reduce the education system to another job searching exercise. Although this is important, education can’t simply be about getting diplomas and degrees in order to secure jobs. Education must primarily be about crafting a citizen for the nation. It is through education that the values and the goals of the nation must be taught. By the time youth comes out of the education process, they must have been shaped enough to become responsible citizens of our country. We need a new educational administrator, teacher, lecturer, who is not just a possessor of degrees but a model of morality.

· Organisational Training: We have many training organisations in our country simply because we value human development. All we need to do is engage a holistic training process that empowers corporate communities on strategic skills, social skills as well as moral skills. We need new corporate coaches, mentors or consultants who will help design new organisational models and management systems that are morally compliant. Coaches or mentors who will help develop the CEO and employees into a new business frequency, a moral frequency; so that business rediscovers its true identity.

Business is not the ability to cheat so that you make more money; business is about serving the needs of the people. The moment you put ‘people’, then you inevitably incorporate a moral or ethical process. Everything about business points to people. Business is owned by people (shareholders), for people (customers), run by people (managers) through people (employees). Human life is therefore the theme of business process and a key resource of any business organisation.

· The Media: It is no secret that media plays a vital role in teaching and setting a moral landscape for the society. Media in the 21^st century is actually part of the parental equation in that it influences and shapes the thinking of children. We can position our media to work for or against society. How do you explain a situation where you see an HIV & AIDS campaign on television aimed at warning society and then straight after that, an advertisement that promotes womanising as something of social status. What message do we exactly want to bring across to the society, especially the younger generation? Is it a question of money again? Does our media take anything that comes their way as long as it adds to the bottom line, without a moral sifting? And here we have to strike the balance again between profits and ethics. Ethics must validate our economic transactions. Our business ambitions must have moral boundaries.

Media must really play a meaningful role in the moralising of society.

Adults, Media & Immorality: there is another wrong thinking that we have created over years; and that is the issue of adults having license to immoral experiences (e.g. sexual movies) just because they are adults. No one grows into immorality, and aging is no license for immorality – i.e. there is no such thing as being matured for immoral behaviour. This thinking implies that one is only forbidden of immorality on the basis of age – this should not be. All human beings, regardless of their age, have a right to moral experiences and law should actually protect society on these issues.

Advertising Industry & Immorality: The advertising industry needs another serious check. We have got to revisit laws and processes that guide the advertising process. Some if not most adverts have a very strong sexual orientation. It was delighting to read in one of the newspapers in 2005 how in Gauteng a poster was disapproved by municipal authorities on the basis of its sexual explicitness. Today adverts push their messages through sexual means. Why must sex be the mode of communication?

Again, the issue is not just adverts and sex; the issue is the impact that this brings upon the society.

Moral Empowerment for Media Explosion: It is clear that if the media will not change, the nation (parents, schools etc.) will have to engage a different and an aggressive approach aimed at empowering our society morally. Parents have to employ different means of raising their kids. In an environment of Internet, Television etc. parents must empower their kids with the power of choice as opposed to setting rules and regulations. The reality in the 21^st century is that parents spend most of their time at work, and are therefore not able to ‘watch’ their kids. And so a legalistic parental approach (of do’s and don’ts) will not work. Kids now need to be empowered with thinking patterns, reasoning, and the ability to make responsible choices. Kids must know ‘why’ they can’t do certain things and not just ‘what’ they can’t do. A traditional parental approach can no longer work.

· Building Moral Competence - An Integrated, Consistent Approach: there can be no effective moralising of the society unless we employ an integrated consistent approach to this issue. We have to integrate and synchronise the parental, community, educational, media and legal elements so that they all move towards the same direction. A consistent approach basically means that we can’t for example warn society on sexual immorality & HIV through media but promote sexually immoral lifestyle through the same media. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? The process of moralising the nation demands consistency.

· The Drivers of Moral Regeneration Movement (Conclusion): a moral regeneration movement that is driven by organs of society is highly important. Moral Regeneration must be free from a bureaucratic process and really be aggressively driven by society. A society driven moral movement ensures ownership. Societal organs like families, community based organizations, educational institutions; business, trade unions etc. must all become voices and drivers of the Moral Regeneration movement. In addition to this, moral regeneration has got to be incorporated into our educational curriculum, from lower to tertiary education.

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6. HIV & AIDS: Intensifying Our Response

The HIV epidemic continues to claim many lives within our nation. Homes are left desolate, kids without parents, and the workplace with vacancies that need to be filled as we continue to lose more and more lives. We all are being affected by HIV either by losing close family members, relatives, friends or our fellow citizens (known and unknown).

Here are some areas, among the many, that are significantly being affected by HIV:

· Families: as homes are left desolate and kids without parents. This has serous social effects as more and more kids have to parent themselves or to be parented by their grandparents. We are yet to see the effects of this in future.

· Communities: increased rates of death change the community landscape. People have to spend most of their week-ends attending funerals. This is affecting the mood and culture of communities because Saturday is no longer a day of feasting but of mourning.

· Education: the educational process and quality will eventually be severely affected in some areas as both the educator and learner are facing HIV related battles, making the educational process less important.

· Nation’s Current Human Resource: both in the private and public sectors we may experience severe skills shortage due to HIV in the future.

· The Nation’s Future Human Resource: because we are burying young people. Some of those emerging out of the tertiary environment may not last. And so the very hope of the nation is crumbling right before our eyes every week-end.

· The Business: as the very customer base is shrinking. Not only is the market shrinking, people’s priorities are changing as they have to redesign their spending in the light of HIV related economic demands. People will eventually be forced to come back to the most basic needs as they try to spend more on their health.

· The government: has to, among other things, take care of more orphans, spend more on health related issues (hospitals, nurses etc.) in order to cater for those lower income groups that are suffering from HIV.

· Savings: the culture of saving is affected as people have to spend more and save less.

All these things reveal that unless something happens, we do have a scary future.

HIV & AIDS, a Diagnosis

Whilst HIV is transmitted in other ways, it is no debate that the major transmitter of this epidemic is sexual intercourse. In fact other cases are secondary opportunistic cases that are really not major contributors to the spreading of this virus.

HIV really relates primarily to sexual intercourse. This is further confirmed by our HIV related campaigns. The main thing that we warn the society about is sexual discipline. Whereas HIV educational programmes would cover other means of infection, the main issue being and that should be driven is sexual discipline.

This implies that transmission of HIV relies largely on this one thing, lack of sexual disciple. There has got to be lack of sexual discipline for HIV to spread uncontrollably. Now this statement does not again denies other realities like accidental transmissions or infections (e.g. in marriages where two parties get married only to find that one is HIV positive etc.).

However, if we collect and consider all other means of infection, the one major transmitter remains that of lack of sexual discipline.

Using the ABC Approach to Diagnose HIV

In our ABC approach, we speak of (A) abstaining, (B) being faithful & (C) condomizing.

The call to abstain implies that we realise that there is lack of sexual discipline. The call for faithfulness implies that we realise that marital unfaithfulness is also another major transporter of HIV. Condomizing implies that we realise that the problem of sexual immorality is so big that we have to offer a ‘protection’.

Now, all these elements (A, B &C) have one common factor, and that is sexual immorality or lack of sexual discipline. We can therefore safely conclude that the root problem of HIV is not scientific or biological in nature, but it is the question of immorality (i.e. sexual immorality).

HIV & AIDS, the Root problem

We are saying that if lack of sexual discipline is the major cause (among many) of HIV infections, then it means that sexual immorality is the root problem of HIV.

HIV is claiming lives the way it is not because we are failing to find a cure but because of lack of sexual discipline. This lack of sexual discipline manifests itself in (i) pre-marital sex (ii) & sexual unfaithfulness in a marriage environment.

Identification of lack of sexual discipline as a root problem must then influence our approach to HIV.

Building Immunity for a Pre-HIV Infection Generation

If the process of finding a cure delays, then we have one hope on our side; and that is to take the young ones being born and instil a new culture as they grow, a culture of sexual discipline. To them we must not speak of HIV as primarily a scientific-biological & medical problem, but we must identify HIV for what it truly is; a moral problem (in other words HIV is to a certain extent a yardstick revealing the degree of sexual immorality).

If the root problem of HIV is sexual discipline; then the answer to HIV is not primarily scientific, it’s values based. If we at least establish this thinking among our citizens, then our continued scientific research would be validated.

A philosophical approach that must define our fight against HIV should be one that prioritises restoring sexual discipline and morality, without stopping an aggressive research for an HIV cure. This becomes a hope for our infants and the basis for immunity in future generations.

Designing an Approach for a Post-HIV Infection Generation

The issue of awareness & education: We have got to continue even more aggressively with our campaigns aimed at:

· Building awareness of the HIV epidemic so that communities may consider very seriously the reality of HIV. This awareness should not result in information but in changed patterns of human behaviour.

· Educating people on HIV so that they know about the disease (& there has got to be an aggressive educational awareness through educational institutions and community structures).

· Educating people on HIV management so that they are able to take care of their families, relatives, neighbours and friends.

The issue of sexual discipline: since HIV’s major transporter is sexual immorality, we do then have to intensify on teaching values and morals.

· Even in a post-HIV infection environment, we still need to uphold ethical values and sexual discipline.

· The nation must take a stance on the issue of morals, relationships & sex before marriage.

The issue of Aggressive Research for a Medical Cure: HIV is claiming more lives day by day:

· A search for a cure has got to continue.

· This does imply that we invest our millions and billions so that resources for research are mobilised.

The post HIV-Infection Generation & the ABC Approach

The ABC approach that has characterised our HIV campaigns over the years has got to be fine-tuned in the light of what seems to be the root problem of HIV.

‘A’ for Abstinence:

· Abstinence is no good idea; it is no alternative. Abstinence is an imperative for life.

· One thing that we have to understand about HIV is that it leaves no options for us. HIV brings us to the reality of having to make right decisions.

· Abstinence is actually not just an HIV solution, it is a human value; i.e. even if there was no HIV, humans will still have to abstain from sex until they get married.

· We have to remind ourselves that sex before marriage constitutes sexual immorality.

· The human race has violated some of the basic values of life (e.g. sexual discipline) & this has made us to be vulnerable to things like HIV & AIDS.

· Our protection is in returning to the values of human conscience, which are the values of our Creator.

· So therefore pre-marital sexual abstinence is no option, it is no good idea, it is no HIV solution; it is one of the basic values of human life, it is an ethical imperative.

‘B’ for being Faithful

· ‘Faithfulness’ is another value for human life.

· We should not have to talk about married partners having to be faithful to each other.

· Marriage implies lifetime commitment and faithfulness.

· Unfaithfulness is the violation of the very concept of marriage.

· Faithfulness in the context of pre-marital relationships implies two things, (i) one is that there is sexual abstinence until marriage. (ii) both parties don’t have third party sexual encounters.

· Faithfulness in the context of married partners implies that both parties don’t have third party relationships or sexual affairs.

‘C’ for Condomizing

· The concept of condomizing indicates that we have not diagnosed HIV correctly.

· We are saying that the root problem of HIV is not scientific or biological but it is sexual immorality (i.e. premarital sex and marital unfaithfulness).

· Condomizing assumes that HIV is primarily a medical-scientific problem of the transferring of a virus from one individual to another. Again we have to realise that this is not the case; HIV is primarily an immoral problem of lack of sexual discipline (which is the issue of pre-marital sex).

· Condomizing therefore does not correct the problem; it simply offers a protected and safe sexually immoral environment.

· To give people condoms is no different to giving thieves bullet proofs so that they can rob banks more safely.

· In this context, we have got to remove our condom approach because it really does not address the problem of sexual immorality; all it does is promote and protect sexual immorality.

· The money that we invest in condoms can be used somewhere else, e.g. more radical HIV educational campaigns or research.

· The only exception that we may have for condoms is for married people. It would be strongly suggested that we channel condomizing to married people who choose to use condoms for various reasons (e.g. in case one party is infected).

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7. Homosexuality

An anti-homosexual campaign is not another religious exercise; it is about contending for and protecting the architecture of the human race. The debate on homosexuality should therefore include all citizens.

It is important to state that this debate is not on the factuality of homosexuality but rather on the basis for authenticating homosexuality (philosophically, culturally, constitutionally and otherwise) as a valid sexual orientation and lifestyle that is part of human creation. In other words, the debate starts on the premise that there are homosexuals (and that is a fact), just as there are blind and lame people, but this category of human life constitutes serious deficiency and abnormality – admission of this takes all of us to the next issue, that of rehabilitating homosexuals so that they are restored to their normal sexual orientation. This debate further identifies the practice of homosexuality as constituting serious immorality.

Since homosexuality directly affects the human architecture; it is therefore primarily a moral before it can be a legal debate. As a nation, we have got to come up with a moral resolution on this matter. To jump into a legal constitutional process before coming up with a moral resolution is premature. Note that it is a moral and not a religious resolution that we need. Moral dialogue will ensure a broad-based process that involves all organs of society as opposed to a religious process that locks out certain people of our society. Moral resolution will demand the wisdom of the conscience and not just circumstantial reasoning. In coming up with a moral solution, we need a principle-centred approach that is free from emphasis on conditions and circumstances before us (e.g. the fact that since we have homosexuals, then let us legislate or ‘constitutionalise’ same sex marriages).

We should not be driven by conditions but by principles, otherwise it may be right to steal and kill on the basis of hunger. That we have homosexual cases is no indication that we need to constitutionalise same sex marriages. Again the principle of ethical based human rights and freedoms applies. That we have a liberal constitution is no indication that we must remove ethical boundaries. The interpretation of our constitution has got to take a moral approach. We have rights to an extent that we are moral; otherwise there is no such thing as an immoral human right.

Morality, Constitution & Homosexuality

Our constitution is one of the most liberal constitutions in the entire world. It protects, among other things, diversity of our society.

We, the people of South Africa,

Recognise the injustices of our past;

Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land;

Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and

Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.

We therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this Constitution as the supreme

law of the Republic so as to-

Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social

justice and fundamental human rights;

Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on

the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law;

Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and

Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign

state in the family of nations.

May God protect our people.

Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso.

God seen Suid-Afrika. God bless South Africa.

Mudzimu fhatutshedza Afurika. Hosi katekisa Afrika.

CHAPTER 1

FOUNDING PROVISIONS

1. Republic of South Africa.-The Republic of South Africa is one, sovereign, demo.-

(a) Human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human

democratic state founded on the following values:

rights and freedoms.

(6) Non-racialism and non-sexism.

(c) Supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law.

(4 Universal adult suffrage, a national common voters roll, regular elections and a

multi-party system of democratic government, to ensure accountability, responsiveness

and openness…(Constitution of the Republic of South Africa).

This constitutional right to diversity must however be limited to the architecture of the human race, in this context; the gender make up of human life.

Let us consider the following factors:

The creation of Creation: Creation implies that life was brought about through a deliberate process; that there would therefore have been a plan or model first before creation was brought forth. Just as every building has an architectural reference, every company - a board of Directors (whose job is to draw and describe the model of business for the rest of employees), every nation - a Government. Everybody who wants to believe that creation or human life has no architectural reference must therefore remove the principle of planning in their life activities first, because to deny the existence of design for creation is to essentially deny the principle of planning before action. We find that there is no civilisation, culture, field of study or science that denies the principle of planning; if this is the case, we are therefore made to believe that human life does have an architectural reference (i.e. there is a default plan for creation). If this is so, human civilisations, philosophy, lifestyle and systems must all be based on this (principle of) architectural reference, so that before we invent new thought patterns, behaviour, lifestyle, laws etc. we consider carefully whether these (new inventions) are consistent with the known architectural reference for the human race.

Creation and the Creator: The book of the origins of human life¹ does allow us to see God creating everything. The most important thing being that in creating human life, God brought two categories, male and female. And in setting marital union, God did this only within the context of male and female.² This becomes the biological, psychological parameter within which human life must flow; anything outside of this constitutes deficiency.

Creation principles and parameters: Since life proves to have codes and principles which we study about in Physical and Biological Sciences, then we can conclude that life is by default not an open ended phenomenon; it has principles that tend to provide parameters, living us with no options but to follow what is right.

When these principles are correctly followed, life becomes stable but when they aren’t correctly followed, life becomes unstable. In this context, right and wrong are not determined by human preference – e.g. in the world of Physics, one can not mess up with scientific principles in the name of what they like or feel. What is right is therefore predetermined, the responsibility of humans is to study, discover, understand and then do accordingly. This is the same pattern with human life, male and female do not only provide gender for us but they also imply parameters within which human life must flow.

The Creator, Creation & Religion: It must be noted that the account of creation and the architecture of human life are pre-religion subjects. These are subjects that relate directly to God’s system of life and rulership (His Kingdom). Homosexuality is therefore not just a religious debate. An anti-homosexual perspective is not necessarily based on religion as we know it today, but on understanding God’s architecture of life and system of rulership. We in fact find a homosexual crisis in the nation of Sodom and Gomorrah³, long before the existence of many religious formations that are found today. In addressing this issue of homosexuality, we therefore must understand that we are not dealing with a religious subject but one of the basic issues of life that relate directly to the architecture of human life.

The Moral Voice Precedes the Legal Voice

The legal process must not supersede the social-moral process. We cannot legalise or legislate anything without firstly establishing its morality. Otherwise we may as well legalise stealing. Why can’t stealing & killing be human rights? The answer to this question is not from the legal but from the moral realm. The legal realm does not have capacity to give us moral solutions because the legal system is or should be influenced by the moral process in the first place.

The big question has to do with whether homosexuality is not a violation of the architecture of the human race. And in fact, what is our understanding of the human architecture in the first place?

An anti-homosexual perspective is therefore not another form of discrimination; this is not about marginalising homosexuals, just as one may not be labelled a discriminator for an anti-stealing or anti-killing view. Even within the context of our liberal constitutional framework, an anti-homosexual view cannot even be seen as intolerance – it is really about the struggle to protect and uphold the architecture of human life. The important thing is for the nation to maintain a restorative approach in this issue by finding ways of rehabilitation rather than pointing fingers at homosexuals; but as it is, homosexuality constitutes serious violation of the human architecture.

God & Homosexuality

In His Manual of life, God clearly expresses that homosexuality is not only a bad human practice, but is immoral and unethical, and constitutes lawlessness.⁴ He hates the practice of homosexuality enough to punish and judge it.

· History tells us that the immorality of the peoples of Sodom and Gomorrah was not without this unethical behaviour of homosexuality.

· Why should we, as a nation, validate something that will result in judgment? The peoples of Sodom & Gomorrah must be an example for us.

· In the Creator’s manual, it is also clear that homosexuality is a result of the violation of the principles of creation. It is the result of the deactivation of ethics. It is a sign of the absence of moral standards.

· Historical patterns show us that homosexual lifestyle constitutes serious judgment from the Creator.

Homosexuality & Marriage

Within the institution of marriage, there is no such thing as same sex marriages. Marriage is a covenantal love based relationship between two persons of different sex or gender. This definition is not just an enforcement of law upon the human race; it captures the very architecture of the human race. In this sense, marriage has an ethical basis. Marriage between people of opposite sex is not just a good idea or an alternative, it is an ethical imperative. To violate this is to violate the very architecture of human life.

The marriage institution is a pre-religion concept that was defined by God back in the age of human origin. God initiated and defined marriage within the context of His kingdom, so whilst human existence (structure of societies, laws etc.) is not founded upon a particular religion it is however founded upon the kingdom of God. The principles of this kingdom are locked up in the wisdom of our conscience and the principles of creation (which we study about in various sciences, e.g. Biology). For example, we categorise ‘stealing’ as an illegal act because we have firstly understood ‘ownership’ as one of the fundamental principles of creation system or the kingdom of God. Imagine if we had to spend hours deliberating on whether stealing is a good or a bad thing.

It must also be understood that marriage is not primarily for the production of kids; it is a dimension of life that the Creator established to communicate more of His principles that may otherwise not be expressed or captured in single living. One such principle is the reality of covenantal love and lifetime commitment. One may never express such a dimension of the Creator outside of marriage.

Therefore the purpose of marriage is firstly to express the nature of the Creator before we can have kids. That is why any marriage that suffers from domestic violence and unfaithfulness is already a violation of the nature of the Creator.

The aspect of opposite gender in marriage (male and female) is no mistake; in establishing this, the Creator left no space for alternatives. It takes this love-based covenanting of opposite genders for the nature of Creator to be expressed in a marriage context. That is, the combination of male and female produces elements that will never be found between two males or two females. These elements are the ones expressing Creator’s nature.

Marriage is not a good idea left for humans to fine-tune. Marriage is a life institution that is complete – it is part of the architecture of the human race.

Homosexuality & Parenting: The Story of a Young Martyr

The Daily News of Thursday March 23, 2006 reported to us the story of a young boy who was killed because he would not refer to his mother’s lesbian lover as his daddy. According to the newspaper report the lesbian lovers were found guilty of murder and are awaiting sentence.

This is a story that demands that we zoom in and look into the underlying issues that resulted in this murder.

· Firstly we want to establish that domestic violence and parental abuse are a general problem that can not be confined to either this case or homosexual cases in general. To confine domestic violence and parental abuse to homosexual cases would be illogical.

· We also must establish that any kind of parental abuse is bad and would necessitate for justice. That is, the murder that occurs in a heterosexual context would not be better off simply because heterosexual relationships and marriages are seen as ‘normal’.

· We however want to go on and note the context of this ‘parental’ abuse leading to murder. The battle between the lesbian daddy and the young boy was on the fundamental issues of the conscience. This young boy was still growing in his perspectives of life and was in fact depending upon his parents for guidance and wisdom, but young as he was, the wisdom of his conscience would not allow him to refer to his mother’s lesbian lover as daddy.

· This brings in another serious issue, the parental effect of a society that embraces homosexuality. The reality is that the two lesbian lovers who were playing a ‘parental role’ over the boy were faced with the issue of transferring values and perspectives to the boy. In this context, by forcing the boy to refer to his mother’s lesbian lover as daddy, they were essentially establishing a homosexual principle in his conscience and mind.

· In setting a mixture of heterosexuality and homosexuality in our society (through a system of law), we have to consider other equally serious issues that relate to raising younger generations and having to teach them on issues of life; because if homosexuality is in our laws, then it must be authentic enough to be taught to our young ones.

This young boy became a martyr because he died for his convictions. Like Abel’s blood that continues to cry from the soil of the earth, the blood of this young boy shall continuously testify against us as a nation – it shall testify against the wisdom of our political and legal systems for upholding rights outside of the parameters of the human architecture. The young boy shall further represent many young ones, who because of our borderless political and legal system will grow confused, not understanding the architecture of human life. Only the future knows what decisions these shall be taking in cabinet meetings, parliament, and courts because of the foundation that we are laying. What will be their concept of freedom then and what values and perspectives will they be establishing in their young ones.

What really are the bases for homosexuality?

· The question of emotional & sexual orientation: We certainly cannot say that homosexuality is valid simply because people have feelings for other people of same sex. Then let sex (between adults and the under aged) be valid because it may also be based on some feeling. ‘Feeling’ (emotional, sexual or otherwise) is no basis for the validation of homosexual life. Human life cannot be left to feelings to decide but principles to guide.

· The biological question: we cannot base the homosexual argument on the issue of biological conditions. The 21^st century is a technological age; and so if we have the ‘will’, we can in fact bring medical solution to most biological problems.

· Democratic Rights: we certainly cannot use the political process as license for immorality. Democratic rights and or should have ethical boundaries. Those ethical boundaries are defined by the human architecture and not just by human desires.

Homosexuality: Some Solutions

· Our brothers and sisters suffering from homosexual conditions must realise that they have a problem just as lame or blind persons must realise that they are physically challenged.

· This homosexual problem is rooted on spiritual, psychological, emotional and biological realms of human life.

· This homosexual problem therefore does need spiritual, psychological and medical input.

· There has got to be willingness from homosexual victims to be helped.

· The state of homosexuality constitutes human deficiency that if discovered, must be dealt with; whilst the practice of homosexuality constitutes immorality.

· The practice of homosexuality constitutes immorality because it violates the human architecture, which is the Creator’s nature.

· Rather than constitutionalising same sex marriages, the nation must mobilise resources to bring solution to this homosexual problem (e.g. rehabilitation programmes).

· Part of the mobilisation of national resources must be a holistic research initiative aimed at understanding the spiritual, psychological and medical dynamics associated with homosexuality; as well as bringing solution to this problem.

· The nation has an obligation to help and restore homosexuals.

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Notes

¹ The book of human origins is the book of Genesis, the very first book of the Bible.

² Mathew 19:4&5 (The Bible)

³ The account of Sodom & Gomorrah is found in Genesis 18&19 and 2 Pet 2:7-9.

⁴ The view of God against homosexuality is expressed clearly in Romans 1:18-32, Leviticus 18:22, Genesis chapters 18&19.

8. Conclusion

For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out in peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

It is up to all of us, through our National Effort, to build a winning nation, to do all the things that will ensure that the mountains and the hills of our country break forth into singing before all our people, and all the trees of the field clap their hands to applaud the people’s season of joy (T.M. Mbeki: State of the Nation Address, 2006).

The process of building a nation is not an easy one; it demands collective wisdom and effort. We want to maintain an understanding that building a nation goes beyond projects and is primarily about building human life in a corporate context. It is about building diverse human life in a coherent manner.

The main challenge is not just a mere building of a nation but it is building a sustainable nation that shall survive the challenges of the future. The question that we must consistently ask ourselves is, what will it take for South Africa to continue to exist successfully 100 years down the line. What is the necessary foundation that shall ensure a stable South Africa 100 to 200 years from now? What type of seeds must we sow now in order for future generations to reap a viable South Africa?

Wisdom says ‘a good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children’. We therefore must be able to build our nation in such a way that the effects of our efforts go down the corridors of the future to positively shape the lives of future generations.

Wisdom also says ‘there is a way that seems right to man but in the end it leads to destruction’. We must not be trapped in this deception of enjoying temporary benefits but only to arrive at instability and crisis. The authenticity of our political and socio-economic process is not only in the results enjoyed now but also in the quality of life that (our present process) will produce in the future.

As it is, our nation is in a time of great potential – we have to arise in the favour of this season and become a strong nation that brings meaningful impact to the global community. We however must ensure that while we do everything in our power to realise this Age of Hope, we don’t get blinded by the favour of the present moment but go on to look carefully at how our present efforts are shaping future events.

On that note, we must continue to engage the following issues:

· We must continue with the national dialogue in order to craft correct sound perspectives that must become bases for nation building.

· We must build a leadership base (political, business & social) to ensure that we don’t suffer from leadership bankruptcy in the future.

· Youth must regain political and moral depth so that we ensure effective generational succession and sustainability of our nation.

· The business must continue to align itself with the national agenda, and allow national goals to shape the business process.

· We must continue to strive to build a more effective public service system because political effectiveness is not simply in the ability (of political parties) to lobby for political power but is seen in the ability of a government to serve its own people.

Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo,
Yizwa imithandazo yethu,
Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo.
Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,
O fedise dintwa le matshwenyeho,
O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso,
Setjhaba sa South Afrika - South Afrika.
Uit die blou van onse hemel,
Uit die diepte van ons see,
Oor ons ewige gebergtes,
Waar die kranse antwoord gee,
Sounds the call to come together,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom,
In South Africa our land.

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References

Aboveboard: Africa’s Global Chronicle on Governance, Leadership and Ethics - Issue 2, November/December 2005.

African Renaissance: The New Struggle (Sandton: Mafube/Tafelberg, 1999).

Collins English Dictionary, Desktop Edition (HarperCollins Publishers, 2005).

Daily News (23 March 2006).

Human Science Research Council, State of the Nation: South Africa 2005 – 2006 (Cape Town: HSRC Press, 2006).

Nelson R. Mandela, State of the Nation Address, 1994.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Youth Sector Consultative Workshop on ASGISA, 2006.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Media Briefing on ASGISA, 2006.

Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, Moral Regeneration Workshop, 2000.

Sunday Times (2 April 2006).

Thabo M. Mbeki, Mahube: The Dawning of the Dawn – Speeches, Lectures & Tributes (Braamfontein: Skotaville Media).

Thabo M. Mbeki, State of the Nation Address, 2006.

The Bible.

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

The Moral Regeneration Website.

The Presidency, 10 Year Book (GCIS, 2003).

Wendy Luhabe, Defining Moments: Experiences of Black Executives in South Africa’s Workplace (Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press, 2002).

World Economic Forum, South Africa at 10 (Cape Town: Human & Rousseau, 2004).