Be part of healing force in troubled world, Public Protector implores graduates
Public Protector Adv. Thuli Madonsela has exhorted recipients of doctorates, master’s degrees and other qualifications to use the skills, knowledge and values acquired from their studies to play a positive role in addressing the challenges South Africa faces and to heal “the troubled world”.
The Public Protector was speaking at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape on Friday 10 April 2015, where she was presented with her third honorary Doctor of Laws Degree.
“You go into a troubled world. Our country faces numerous challenges. Some of these are shared by the continent and the world. The challenges include an economic downturn, energy challenges, social injustice, crime, global warming, bad governance and violations of the rule of law,” she said.
Congratulating the graduates for the leadership they had already exercised, particularly in leading themselves to undertake and complete their studies despite obstacle’s, the Public Protector said the toughest leadership challenge was to lead oneself to do the right thing, particularly when alternatives seem easier and more attractive.
She urged graduates to transcend victimhood in order to unleash their full leadership potential and ability to play a positive role as a part of a healing force in a troubled world.
“There is a hero in all of you and by graduating today you have partly unleashed the hero. Go ahead and heal the world. However, if you are to form part of a healing force in our troubled world, you must transcend victimhood, bitterness and cynicism,” she told them.
The Public Protector called on the graduates to get involved in nation building efforts, guided by the understanding that South Africa belongs to all who live in it. She encouraged them to form national think tanks, seeking to support the implementation of the National Development Plan and to contribute towards improving it, should they deem that necessary. This, the Public Protector explained, meant working towards building an inclusive society based on social justice, where each person’s potential is freed, their quality of life improved and their human dignity respected.
She reminded the audience that South Africans have a collective debt of gratitude to those that sacrificed a lot to build a better country and better world that is without racial, gender, religious, nationality and other irrational human boundaries.
Among these, the Public Protector said, were Charlotte Maxeke, Oliver Tambo, Bram Fischer, Albert Luthuli, Helen Suzman, Nelson Mandela and Chris Hani, who was gunned down on the same day of the graduation ceremony, 22 years ago.
She thanked University leadership for the honorary degree, saying she accepted it with the understanding that it recognised her as a leader of a team of men and women in her office, who believe in justice, good governance, respect for the rule of law, constitutionalism and the upholding of human rights.
The Public Protector also addressed the community of Joza township outside Grahamstown on Saturday, where her central message centered on how unethical leadership constitutes a breach of trust.
Commencing her talk with a reference to her recent report titled Permitted Benefits; the Public Protector said ethics is the bond that binds those in positions of trust, be it in a stokvel scheme (or society), church grouping or government. She said that constitutions, codes of conduct and rules spell out ethical standards regulating the conduct of those entrusted with collective power and resources of a group.
These documents, the Public Protector explained, spell out what is right and what is wrong and when people accept election or appointment into those positions of trust they voluntarily agree to conduct themselves according to those rules.
“It is accordingly not open for persons in positions of trust in stokvels, government or other institutions to later say they have not violated ethical standards regulating their conduct until a criminal court says so. Ethical leadership requires those in positions of trust to be the first to admit wrongdoing and to offer to make amends,” she remarked.
The Public Protector added that it was important for the public to understand the importance of ethics in leadership as ethics guarantee that those placed in positions of trust do not abuse that trust and that they operate in the best interests of the collective that entrusted them with such power and resources.
Having taken the community briefly through her reasons and findings in the Permitted Benefits report, involving an MEC’s excessive use of travelling allowances, the Public Protector stressed that all leaders in such positions need to exercise power only given to them by constitutions, laws and policies, adding that this should always be done in a manner that is devoid of self-interest.
On the question of transformation, she reminded the community that the Constitution provides a vision and roadmap for the transformation of the South African society into one that is inclusive and where everyone’s potential is freed and life improved. She said the responsibility to achieve that society rests on everyone while requiring principled and steward leadership from those entrusted with public power and control over public resources.
The Public Protector said such transformation process includes presenting history in an inclusive yet transformative way, depicting “where we come from, where we are and who we want to become as a nation”. She added that the narrative and symbols should not be ones of the triumphs of the victors but those honouring the constitutional dream of an inclusive society and furthering the transformation project of building a united nation.
During the meeting in Joza, some community members lodged complaints, which the Public Protector promised to look into with impartiality and fairness.
For more information, contact:
Oupa Segalwe
Tel: 012 366 7035
Cell: 072 264 3273
E-mail: oupas@pprotect.org
