Fallen from grace but his work for SA won't be forgotten

What to make of Pallo Jordan's resignation from parliament after it emerged that his claim to having a doctorate was false?

The capitulation of the former struggle activist, cabinet minister, MP, scholar and ANC intellectual finally came on Monday, after weeks of dodging questions by the Sunday Times - and eight days after the newspaper broke the news of his deception.

That, and the fact that he no doubt benefited materially from his notional doctorate - some would argue that he managed to build a pretty successful career around it - makes it easy to judge him harshly.

Cynics might even argue that he is just the last in a long line of public figures who have lied about their academic credentials to get ahead in the new South Africa, and that he deserves to have the book thrown at him.

Jordan's deception cannot be justified, as prominent ANC figures absurdly tried to do, by arguing that one doesn't need a PhD to be a member of parliament, or that there was no time during the struggle days for activists to obtain degrees.

It is refreshing though that he resisted the temptation, unlike so many public figures before him, to tough out the scandal in the hope that it would pass.

It is a national disgrace that scores of public servants, many of whose transgressions are far more serious than his, cling to their jobs - often with the ANC's blessing - in defiance of public opinion. One need look no further than the sorry case of the SABC's chief operating officer, Hlaudi Motsoeneng, who was found by the public protector to have lied about having a matric certificate but who resolutely stays in his lucrative job.

It also needs to be said that Jordan's deception, however odious, does not diminish his role in the battle to liberate South Africa and in helping to fashion a new, democratic, society. He has made his contribution as a leading African thinker, and as a man who was not afraid to stick his neck out and remind powerful ruling party figures that they had erred.

That is the real tragedy of Pallo Jordan.