It is likely to get worse before it gets better. That is the space South Africa finds itself in as it battles to find solutions to a multiplicity of problems. Almost all sectors of our state are in leadership limbo.Key departments are in a state of paralysis because ruling party politics have assumed centre stage.It gets worse when a head of state elected through an open vote tells the nation that his party, the African National Congress, comes first. It does not help us to navigate the challenges we face as a nation if the man we have put in place to oversee our affairs tells us that we come second in his thinking.The latest statement from President Jacob Zuma raises scepticism about what he has told us many times - that he has sleepless nights when he thinks of the poverty our people are subjected to. It also exposes as a lie what the party trumpets to citizens - that it is the "party of the people".Where do people feature when the head of state says he knows nothing but the ANC?Our troubles as a nation don't start with Zuma and those around him but with us as a nation.We continue to allow the worst among us to dictate terms.We attained freedom not because of gestures but through sacrifices and joint effort.Blaming politicians and pointing fingers at all that is wrong today does not take this nation forward.Now we have reached the worst of times, when a mere civil servant will defy everyone except the president.How do we explain the leadership chaos in some of our institutions?The battles inside SAA and the determination by its board chairman Dudu Myeni to run riot tells us that the public, the main shareholder in everything that happens in this country, has been forgotten.In the midst of our despair at this sorry state of affairs, hope lies within reach - in our love for our country...