ANC General Secretary Gwede Mantashe said over the weekend that the ANC must “… quickly restore investor confidence”. That sounds good, but if the ANC really wants to do this, they must start right at the top. The rot has its origin right at the top of the ANC leadership.
Following a financial scandal in the USA in the late 1990’s, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) found that executives in that particular case set an improper tone for their company which enabled underlings to play all kinds of tricks. “It is crucial that public companies have a tone at the top that reflects corporate ethics and good corporate governance”, the SEC said. (Washington Post, 6 June 2003).
If the ANC wants to root out corruption and instill confidence, they have to start right at the top. Set the example right there and it will trickle down. But, like so many other things in our lives, it is very hard to begin with ourselves. It’s just so much easier to expect someone else to change. And so we wait upon each other and nothing gets done.
Can we imagine what the world will look like if every person takes responsibility for the area in which he or she functions? It will be a completely changed environment. The wonderful thing about all of this is: each of us can begin this new journey by taking immediate responsibility in the world we live and the area of our influence. I do not have to wait for anybody else.
The change starts now – with me!!
Gerhard Papenfus