Our 'second liberation' will need ethics and ubuntu

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Our 'second liberation' will need ethics and ubuntu

By Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane*

August 08, 2009

There is no question that our nation needs deep and careful thinking about ethical questions, to inform public dialogue, and help ensure that the gains of the transition to democracy are not squandered through ignorance, oversight, or the selfishness of the few at the expense of the many.

The consequences of putting dollars about all else and applauding unbridled greed and rapacious consumerism are all too evident in everything from the collapse of the international financial system to the short-term policy-making that risks making our planet uninhabitable.

In South Africa, we worry that a new elite, too readily seduced by power, status and conspicuous consumption, is the tip of a far larger iceberg of unethical attitudes that is threatening the ship of democratic nationhood.

Even Westminster, the mother of parliaments, has been rocked by scandals over allowances and expenses. Everywhere, those whom we elect to protect and preserve our interests seem to be concerned only with their own. The message to the electorate is that, except as voting fodder, we do not value you. Yet it is in the nature of the human person that true value lies. I'd like to say that all human life is priceless!

I didn't spend three years on Robben Island so that a small, self-serving ruling class could be replaced by a different select few who — despite their political rhetoric — may come to prove they have similarly scant regard for the actual wellbeing of the many. For Samuel Johnson was correct when he said that "a decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilisation". The tools we need for building a civilised South Africa, in which everyone is valued for themselves, are very simple: they are the virtues.

Since the time of Socrates, the virtues have been considered the principal quality required for society’s wellbeing. I am proud that I grew up learning that one should keep one’s promises — and not make promises that one cannot keep. One should strive for excellence — and not settle for mediocrity. One should tell the truth. One should respect all other people. One should always be ready to go the extra mile, turn the other cheek and look out for those in need.

In Africa, the word "ubuntu" wonderfully encapsulates so much of this. It means "I am, because we belong together". It is to live and care for others, being kind, just, fair, compassionate, trustworthy, honest, assisting those in need and upholding good morals. Ubuntu is about generous magnanimity towards others — especially those who are different.

Ubuntu can help us in the vital task of forging a South African identity. We have some way to go in learning to count created diversity as creative diversity, and must still struggle for a "second liberation" from mental enslavement to the categories of the past. It is short-sighted and distorting always to view life from the perspective of race.

We recognise ubuntu when we see it in unprovoked acts of kindness. We also recognize when people have failed to exercise ubuntu, and are outraged at politicians and officials who privilege themselves over the needs of the communities they should serve.

Servant leadership should be seen as the very best of leadership. It is tragic that the word "servant" became so discredited under apartheid, when so many were forced into servitude. We have to claim it back.

"Excellence" is another word we must rehabilitate. Only the best is good enough for the people of this nation. To settle for mediocrity is to embrace a downward spiral. Only the highest ethical practice is acceptable. Corruption and wheeler-dealing must have no place — neither in public life nor in business. It is not good enough to say, "How much can I get away with, without technically breaching the rules?"

Good governance, transparency, accountability, integrity and honesty are values we should be proud to honour. All forms of democracy require true accountability and engagement between governments and every other sector of society. This became very clear when I participated in the recent Dinokeng scenario-planning exercise, which considered how to address the critical challenges of our time and build a future that lives up to the promise of 1994.

Only our "Walk Together" scenario delivered such an outcome. This postulates an increasingly collaborative and enabling state that listens to its citizens and leaders from different sectors and engages with critical voices, consulting and sharing authority in the interest of long-term sustainability. It also proposes an engaged citizenry that takes leadership and holds government accountable, sharing responsibility for policy outcomes and development.

This is not an easy path — but it is a feasible path, if leaders in all walks of life are prepared to rise above narrow self-interest and contribute purposefully to building our nation. Engaging actively and effectively together, we can overcome our challenges.

All that is most worthwhile in life — the flourishing of individuals within a flourishing society — does not come through the naked pursuit of power, status and wealth. To invest our energies here will, in the long term, actually undermine our goals, as the present global financial state amply demonstrates.

Rather, it is by expending our resources in virtuous living that we will achieve what is truly valuable — including sustainable economic benefits. Let us reach for excellence, and devote ourselves to all that is most precious for human life and wellbeing.


Archbishop Ndungane is chair of the University of Cape Town Council

© The Sunday Times (SA)

Web: http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1046892

* An edited version of a speech Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane delivered
this week at the launch of the University of the Witwatersrand's Centre for
Ethics