LOOKING UP
and the strength of principle to withstand what must
surely have been an all-out assault on the country’s
treasury. What country can boast of having such a den
of bribery and coercion on the one hand, and on the
other hand, leadership of such sterling character? He
protected each one of us at the cost of his job, and
foregoing the sure and sordid rewards which would
have been his, had he sold us all down the river.
And I’m proud of Thuli Madonsela (who isn’t?) She
has shielded us all by ensuring our constitution is
actually upheld and that all branches of government
are held accountable. She’s done so through the
insults of every foul-mouthed politician in the
country (which is a given) and through threats to her
life, bizarre accusations of being a CIA spy and more.
And of course I’m proud we have Pravin Gordhan,
the next to place his finger in the dyke. As of this
writing, we’ve all been witness to the campaign
of intimidation and worse conducted against him,
as he has struggled to stimulate our economy and
at the same time halt the looting of the country’s
fiscus. I try to imagine what it’s like getting up in the
morning for Pravin – an honest man, with a photo
of Madiba in his living room. I see him lying in bed,
head in hands, praying for the strength, the cunning,
the integrity to fight the good fight against evil.
I watch him walk past that photo of Madiba and
glance up, looking for encouragement in the past,
because he is so alone in the present.
These are not ordinary public servants. Rather, they
are exceptional people; leaders no country could
reasonably expect to gather together in such a short
period of time. Just one of them would fill the quota
of any normal country for a decade!
And we should realise our mazal.
“What
country can
boast of
having such
a den of
bribery and
coercion on
the one hand,
and on the
other hand,
leadership of
such sterling
character?”
If we cast our eyes westwards, what do we see in
America, the goldene medinah? Do they have one
leader like this? One admirable voice thundering
with quiet principle above the din of bizarre
politicking?
Instead they get stuff like, “I will build a great wall –
and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me
– and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build
a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will
make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.”
Or how about, “The beauty of me is that I’m very
rich,” or “my fingers are long and beautiful, as, it has
been well documented, are various other parts of my
body.”
If we glance at Britain (once Great), there is similar
silliness. We were all witness to the bizarre Brexit
show led by a journalist-politician, Boris Johnson,
who holds the dubious distinction of having won
the Spectator’s competition for composing the most
offensive limerick about the Turkish Prime Minister,
Erdogan. And after headlining the Brexit campaign,
Continued on pg 10
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