Outspoken businessman Reuel Khoza has attributed the recent violent protests to lack of political leadership. “Freedom and peace go hand in hand‚ but if you look at our nation today we see our hard-won freedoms diminishing while violence and lawlessness are on the increase‚" he said."We are directionless and we have entered a moral wilderness. I am going to argue that this is due in large part of a failure of leadership.”He quoted a ‎study that found that 86% of protests are violent.Mobs give ANC brass the fingerAngry ANC members have given President Jacob Zuma and top party leaders an ultimatum - reverse the appointment of Thoko Didiza as Tshwane mayoral candidate and retain current mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa or "forget about our votes''."Rage produces more rage. Teargas and rubber bullets will not resolve the situation‎. Today we need a leadership that is visionary and as passionate as it is compassionate. The leadership I refer to should set us firmly on the road to regeneration through exemplary character‚ setting high targets themselves."To support his argument he referred to instances in which South African Democratic Teachers Union members allegedly sold teaching posts‚ mine owners who exploit workers and business people who were corruptly awarded tenders."An ethic of service is missing. Such an ethic is exemplified by the late‚ great Nelson Mandela‚ and it lies at the heart of what I call attuned leadership. The servant leader practices introspection and self-renewal."Khoza said the latest developments were tragic and meant that people would not flourish in these current conditions."What we see developing from the top to the bottom in our greedy and self-serving society‚ from politics to business and even family‚ is a bad life."People cannot flourish‚ become creative and innovative‚ or grow to their full potential when their daily lives are threatened by crime‚ corruption‚ hunger and ill-health."He pointed at the unexpected firing of Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene as yet another example of poor leadership."The reckless firing of a competent and trustworthy minister of finance was met with justified outrage."He said South Africans should show courage and take action against incompetent leaders.“When the character and virtues of leaders are obviously insufficient to the task it is the responsibility of followers to take action‚ assert discipline and if necessary remove the leaders. I call this moral courage‚ but unfortunately we are descending into a state of moral turpitude.” Khoza‚ who was a guest of the Free Market Foundation where he was awarded the 2016 luminary award on Tuesday‚ said there were those who chose to desert morality."From the elite who run the country down to the very lowest levels of society‚ there are those who are choosing to abandon morality in the pursuit of power‚ populism‚ and wealth."A business professor and author of Attuned Leadership and Let Africa Lead‚ Khoza warned South Africans to protect their freedom from leaders who are determined to subjugate the rule of law.“We have seen the emergence of a strange breed of leaders‚ determined to subjugate the rule of law and override our noble Constitution. “Today we need a leadership that is visionary‚ and as passionate as it is compassionate. Anyone who has eyes to see and cares to observe cannot but notice leadership without moral principle lurching from scandal to scandal.”In 2012‚ former Nedbank chairperson Khoza was harshly criticised by government when he warned that “our political leadership’s moral quotient is degenerating and we are fast losing the checks and balances that are necessary to prevent a recurrence of the past”. TMG Digital..