Defend Truth

Opinionista

Authentic leaders, apply within

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Andrew Ihsaan Gasnolar was born in Cape Town and raised by his determined mother, grandparents, aunt and the rest of his maternal family. He is an admitted attorney (formerly of the corporate hue), with recent exposure in the public sector, and is currently working on transport and infrastructure projects. He is a Mandela Washington Fellow, a Mandela Rhodes Scholar, and a WEF Global Shaper. He had a brief stint in the contemporary party politic environment working for Mamphela Ramphele as Agang CEO and chief-of-staff; he found the experience a deeply educational one.

Our society does not demand that we pretend we are something we aren’t; that society does not demand that we pretend to be a better human; what society needs is authentic and real leadership.

Leadership and rising to the occasion is no longer about being decisive, being honest and being bold; rather it has become about protecting your own position instead of standing by your beliefs. There is a great deal of obsessing over protecting the legacy, about protecting the credibility and about not taking risks.

The aversion to risks is dangerous, as it often leads to us silencing our own voice – about silencing our own values, and often it is justified by believing we do so for “the greater good”. There is a tendency today only to operate from a position of comfort or security, or, even worse, to play it safe by actually not doing anything.

We don’t require radical leadership; rather, what we require is people who are willing to stand by their own views and to speak out against power no matter where it might reside.

Last week, I listened to the Namibian First Lady reflecting on the “schizophrenic nature” of our world today, and in particular how she told the story of the need to sometimes change bags, shoes and clothes depending on where you went so that you didn’t essentially flaunt your wealth or success to those who didn’t have much. There is a tendency in this “schizophrenic” world to hide your family or even to change your accent, but this lack of authenticity does not serve us, nor does it serve our ‘leaders’.

I have reflected on this approach to living a public life, and I find it deeply problematic. Our society today is not schizophrenic, but rather it is intricate, dynamic and layered. Our society does not demand that we pretend we are something we aren’t; that society does not demand that we pretend to be a better human; what that society needs is authentic and real leadership.

Our public officials and those who seek high office do so by their own choice, and they must accept the inherent burden of the pursuit of a public life. In the past year, we have seen the effects of public opinion shift against the likes of Zweledinga Pallo Jordan or Mamphela Aletta Ramphele, and how their credibility and integrity was questioned, interrogated and in many ways irreparably damaged.

There has been a great deal of public outcry about scandals such as the landing of a Gupta-chartered plane at Waterkloof Air Force base, or the extensive upgrades at the president’s private residence in Nkandla, or the ongoing saga at the National Prosecuting Authority, SABC and, even worse, the Marikana massacre.

However, the outrage has not been consistent or effective in changing the course of our country or its leadership. The only real option available to all of us is that we must not only demand more from ourselves, but also be vigilant about the tendency by some within our ranks (our so-called leaders) to embody this “schizophrenic nature”.

The tendency plays out in people speaking only behind closed doors or in the corridors, yet failing to ever meaningfully articulate their thoughts. We are often confronted by their double-speak when they are required to speak about xenophobia, migration, inequality, poverty, racism, ethical leadership or integrity.

The most concerning feature about our party political environment today is that dissent is not tolerated, it is not encouraged, and most of all it is silenced by those who wish to hold onto the status quo. The focus today seems to only be about the optics, about the ratings, about the perception and most of all whether a decision, perceived or not, can garner more votes.

The power dynamics of our party political environment has been consumed by personal ambition, money, power and greed to hold on no matter what. This is not a tendency unique to the governing party but rather it has infected our political environment.

There is silence when people like Helen Zille call those South Africans who make the difficult choice of making the journey from the Eastern Cape to the Western Cape, “education refugees”.

We have not dealt with those who have slandered or vilified others, and even worse, we have not dealt with those people in our ranks who have incited hate. The need to be radical seems to be an overarching commodity, filled with expedience and bile, focused on simply doing everything possible to achieve what self-ambition desires.

More recently, Mmusi Maimane, the leader of the Democratic Alliance – or perhaps we should refer to him as Aloysius Maimane – was confronted by this concept of a “schizophrenic” world when his views uttered in his church did not align to the constitutional values of equality and in particular to gay rights. There has been a defence mounted and explanations given, but those utterings in church are still problematic. After all, we expect more from our leaders.

We only need to look to the newspapers to be reminded about the words spoken by the likes of Julius Malema, Mmusi Maimane, Goodwill Zwelithini, Helen Zille or Jacob Zuma, to be reminded about the risks of letting leaders speak and act without any sense of accountability. However, we must demand more and ask ourselves why we are so willing to turn a blind eye to the flaws in those we wish to call “my leader”.

There is a tendency today that young South Africans enter the political environment and they are driven in part by their own ambition, but also perhaps idealism. My own idealism believes that this is still true, but when they enter that environment they become consumed by securing and retaining their position.

There is an inherent risk in allowing this to define our future, because self-ambition and survival coalesce to ensure that young leaders then choose to be pragmatic and not to speak truth to power. There is too much at risk in South Africa for us to continue in this way.

Importantly, we need to consider how best to change the party political and leadership space in our country. Leadership and the privilege to lead is not a God-given right or predetermined. Rather those who seek the honour to lead must earn the privilege each day to serve us. DM

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