On Monday the world will be celebrating Nelson Mandela International Day. This is an annual international day of humanitarian action in celebration of Mandela's life and legacy. He will be 93 years on Monday. Some eight years ago I was in discussion with a male politician about the issue of political corruption when he chose to enlighten me on the real world of politics. I will not to give his name, political party, race, religion or country, suffice it to say that he was a minister of government and a member of Cabinet.
He informed me that he believed that people expect politicians to "take care" of themselves and their families while in office. He went on to inform me that he did not want to leave office poor since he will become a laughing stock and people will say, "Look, he don't even own a house although he was a minister for so long. He did not even help his family. That is a stupid man!" And most interestingly, he went on to tell me that "most people believe that all politicians are thieves, so we politicians may as well thief." He volunteered that many, if not most, politicians engage in some kind of corrupt or unfair practice while in office. He told me that he sees nothing wrong in favouring family, friends, and political supporters since such behaviours were normal in the world of politics.
He further went on to tell me that he is a politician and no different from the other politicians and that, like the others, he would always deny being corrupt. Throughout our discussion he projected an air of smug superiority, typical of those who are seduced by the power of office. This conversation left me cold since I got the distinct feeling that he expected me to understand that he was just being a "truthful" and normal politician. It is not surprising that many politicians see politics as having a morality of its own when in reality it is: "politics has an immorality of its own." What this politician failed to understand is that even though he might perceive his behaviour to be normal it is still not right.
One year later in another conversation with a female minister of government, I was asked the question: "As a minister, don't I have a responsibility to favour those who supported me and my party during the election campaign? And as I am sure you know, this is the norm." Clearly, this politician wrongly felt that she had a "moral" responsibility to favour her supporters with work and lucrative government contracts. Again, this politician has blurred the issue of morality by failing to recognise that once she becomes a minister she has a responsibility to work in the interest of all the people and not just her supporters. After all, it is the taxpayers' money that she is spending and not her personal resources to be disbursed as she pleases. She has become part of the revolving and immoral political culture of "it's we time now."
In the eyes of most members of the public, politicians have little credibility. They cannot be trusted and it seems that the politicians themselves know that the public does not trust them. The clearest evidence of this lack of trust is that a simple statement from the minister that the "funds have been made available to the relevant organisation to commence Project X" is not good enough. Now an oversized cheque has to be prepared and shown by the minister himself to the public via the news media in order to convey the simple message that funds are available. I find such activities metaphorically noisy and extremely vulgar.
I also notice that many of the full-page colour newspaper advertisements and prime-time advertising slots that various government ministries and state organisations now deem necessary to share simple messages are really "noisy" and costly attempts to get a disbelieving public to believe.
Such acts of desperation to be noticed and to win the trust of the people often backfire as they can be seen as a grand waste of the State's resources. Politicians must understand that such excesses fool no one and do not buy trust. In fact, I believe that the end result is really a further erosion of trust. Central to the failure of politicians to win and retain the trust of the people is the self-serving approach of many of our politicians who seem more concerned with the selfish accumulation of wealth for themselves, their families, their friends and their tribal followers.
Also, they seem to be just as concerned with the retention of power so that they can continue doing the same for as long as possible. Sometimes the egotistic quest for more power becomes a goal all by itself. Whenever the people sense that their welfare and development have been relegated to a secondary objective the erosion of trust intensifies. This is so despite the crafty speeches and public posturing of politicians. People have the ability to see through the pretence, hypocrisy and outlandish spin-doctoring as dishonest politicians seek to present themselves as caring and honest. Despite the corrupt behaviours of some politicians, they all want to look good. They are all highly protective of their "good character" and can go to great lengths to project an image of fairness and moral rectitude. In doing so they are trying their best to project the character of the person that they would really like to be. So, why don't they just clean up their act by cutting out the lying and pretending and just be the wonderful human being that they are desperately trying to project?
In other words, be like Nelson Mandela. Mandela lived what he preached. He role-modelled his values. His humility came naturally as a consequence of his honesty and truthfulness. He worked in the interest of all. He did not need an army of communication professionals to look good. In the end, he won the admiration and respect of the people of South Africa and the world, including his former enemies. Beyond doubt, Mandela demonstrated that politicians do not have to be corrupt to succeed. That is his real legacy. Let us all join in celebrating Nelson Mandela International Day on Monday by giving 67 minutes of our time to working in the interest of others and not just in our self-interest. After all, Mandela gave 67 years of his life in the advancement of the cause of our humanity.