DR ONKGOPOTSE JJ TABANE | The search for new Mandelas will take more than 67 minutes

It is apposite on Mandela Day to reflect on the state of leadership crisis in the country. Mandela and his peers led this country through some of the most difficult times ahead of 1994 and beyond. This was a tough period that separated weaklings from the resilient. Being a leader in those times meant great personal sacrifice, including of life itself. Mandela, in particular. spent almost half his life in prison because of his convictions. Without unnecessary comparisons, that servant leadership has quite frankly disappeared in our latter-day national life.

The only criticism one may have for that generation is an apparent failure to replicate itself. The distance between courage and resilience of that crop of leaders and the leadership we have now to navigate our challenges, is massive. This leadership deficit is sadly across all sectors of society. If you just look at the failure in our economic growth trajectory you have to ask deeper questions about where the business leadership is. Are they doing enough where they have influence to salvage the economic meltdown?

Often when issues of the quality of leadership in the country are raised, we hardly ever focus on business. And yet there are serious problems in our economy that may well point to a less than patriotic private sector that is losing confidence in the democratic project if the latest business confidence index is anything to go by. One is, however, not dismissive of efforts to mitigate this, but it is clear that much more has to be done congruent to this crisis.

There is also a new tendency for business leaders to hide behind fractured associations (such as BUSA, BLSA and BBC), thus diluting their role as leaders who can shape the national discourse that can steer the country in a much-needed new direction. The days of business leaders coming out of the woodwork to paint a school for 67 minutes are over — business leaders need to take a more visible stance on issues facing the country, such as we saw last week when business offered to bring more hands on deck to tackle the energy and infrastructure challenges. How some of these same business leaders are steering issues such as transformation and productivity in their own businesses leaves much to be desired.

The various commissions of inquiry over the past three decades tell a sad story.

On the political front leadership has largely lost credibility, and the sad part is the political leadership seem to have given up on living up to the high standards set by the Mandelas of this world. Former president Thabo Mbeki’s recent letter to the ANC leadership sums it all up, highlighting questionable positions the ANC has taken in parliament — decisions that demonstrate the loss of whatever was left of the so-called revolutionary morality. On the other hand the fracturing of the opposition does not create a sense of confidence, either, in creating a better alternative.

The various commissions of inquiry over the past three decades tell a sad story, whether it is the Farlam commission that probed the massacre of workers in Marikana, the Seriti commission probing the arms deal corruption or the Zondo commission exposing the hollowing out of the state. The common theme is the total abandonment of upright leadership. No wonder that despite the horrors in the Zondo report not one political leader has fallen on their sword. The question of being driven by conscientious and servant leadership is dead.

During the days of the struggle thankfully there was no sole reliance on political leadership. Even with above-average leaders, civil society produced a fantastic crop of community leaders who led the country in some of its most difficult times. The likes of Charlotte Maxeke, Beyers Naudé and Archbishop Desmond Tutu are today without equals. Civil society in the form of community leaders seems to have taken a back seat. The likes of Dr Sooliman — founder of Gift of the Givers Foundation — are few, and the leadership vacuum seems to ever widen.

The faith community also seems to be falling short of its prophetic mission, while the country drowns in moral depravity. Leaders such as Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of the Anglican Church and Bishop Sono of the Grace Bible Church and the Chief Rabbi Dr Goldstein are drowning in the loud silence and their voices are not taken seriously any more. Ironically this may well be where the hope for the renewal of moral leadership can come from.

The reality is that top politicians from the president down are battling reputational matters that have weakened their moral standing, leaving us with civil society leaders to turn to. However, an unfortunate trend is that once civil society leaders gain some popularity they make the mistake of joining party politics and when that falls apart, as we have seen it in the case of respected erstwhile civil society leaders such as Dr Mamphele Ramphele, they disappear from the front lines, seen in the same light as the politicians they were trying to replace.

We need to accept that our answer to the leadership crisis no longer lies with the politicians, but given that these politicians are in charge of the national fiscus, we can’t simply give up on rebuilding the moral fibre in our politics. We need to build a stronger and more robust civil society in all aspects of our national life to almost “supervise and challenge” politicians and hold them to account in line with the constitution. NGOs such as Section27 have already demonstrated they can make departments such as health and education remain accountable. An NGO like TAC took the lead during the Aids denial years, exposing government’s poor leadership on the issue of HIV treatment. So it is clear that with leadership across the sectors a more visible social compact can emerge in practice and not as an attempt to pacify civil society but as a lever of agency to rescue the state of leadership.

On a day like this, we can’t simply cry over Mandela. Each of us must endeavour to emulate him wherever we have influence. This in my view is the most effective way we can build on his legendary legacy of conscientious and servant leadership.

Dr Onkgopotse JJ Tabane is editor of Leadership Magazine and Anchor of Power to Truth on eNCA on air