South Africa has in the moment a lot to worry about: from corrupt political leadership via rising political killings to the complete lack of moral leadership in major parts of society with all its consequences the portfolio of negativity is growing by the day. And not to forget the economical downturn and the threat of being a complete junk state on this note. Did I forget the danger to abuse pension funds to fill fiscal gaps or selling the table silver of Telkom to bail out – for the – I can’t count anymore – time to short-term fix the disaster of SAA created by a very close friend of the president, not wanting to leave till “ubaba” is gone. “Gupta” and “Statecapture” – thousands reasons to be negative adding to despair and hopelessness.
But in all this misery and after a peaceful transition in the early nineties from the inhuman Apartheid system to the dawn of democracy there is once again a shimmer of hope:
South Africa, with all its trouble and all its misery has the guts to expose big international companies on what they do best: floating best practice and just looking where the money is while throwing all ethical considerations over board:Bell-Pottinger, KMPG, SAP, McKinsey – and it seems the list will go on. It is amazing that a wounded country living through the agony of democratization and the fight to end racism and achieve equality for all its citizens is able to be a leader in forcing companies to come clean and stop hurting people, nations and basic ethical standards supposed to govern the global village. This is a ray of hope we can hold on and be proud of – especially being proud of those journalists, activists and politicians who are going for the truth as wounded healers.
And this ray of hope is the reason to I hope for another miracle: that the history of liberation movements turning into wanna-be political parties and failing their own people up to the point of destroying again what they fought for – because they can’t transform from the military battle ground to the party political debate acknowledging that the opposition parties are not the enemy anymore but part of the dynamics of democratic decision-making – that the ANC somehow finds a way to defeat this seemingly automated historical process of self-destruction and rise to the occasion of the new and democratic South Africa.
Let’s not only hope, but actively participate in all political and social processes to become what we have been in 1994 under the leadership of Madiba: a beacon of hope for the global village that human mankind can learn and evolve peacefully and meaningful for the benefit of all.
Filed under: Africa, General, Networking, Politics and Society, Reflection, Society and living environment, South Africa, Uncategorized, Africa, Bell-Pottinger, democracy, Gupta, journalism, KMPG, Madiba, McKinsey, SAA, SAP, south africa, Statecapture, telkom
God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE 