OUR POLITICAL SYSTEM ALLOWS THE BLIND TO LEAD THE SIGHTED
Mabila Mathebula
I recently watched two thought-provoking videos from ordinary citizens about the poor state of our nation. One was about a teacher at Eldorado Park, who thundered at the Gauteng MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane, and his HODs for their box approach.
I surmise that it was the ripe time for the teacher to answer to her conscience and refuse to answer to her leaders. She argued that discipline collapse was squarely on the shoulders of the government.
In her view, the government had to share the blame for the collapse of discipline at our schools through the introduction of ‘progressive legislations’ such as the abolishment of corporal punishment.
The teacher told the government officials that they could not manage what they could not comprehend. Simply put, what gets comprehended, gets done. For example, a government official is obsessed with the management of the curriculum, but he has never been a teacher and he never studied pedagogics.
The other video was about a eulogy that was delivered at the funeral of Malusi Sobikela, who was head of unit – Department of Education. The speaker lamented over the poor state of our nation, where the ignorance and the illiterate lord over the literate people.
He asked: “What are implications of the illiterate oversighting the literate?” I was compelled to muse: there is some bitterness in acknowledging mistakes, however, repudiation will not lead to any national salvation.
It is very sad to be led by leaders who are perpetually groping in darkness. This reminds me of an unknown quotation I once saw on a ferry in Australia: “I used to think that communication was key until I realised comprehension is. You can communicate all you want to someone, but if they don’t understand you, it’s silent chaos.”
For example, Counsellor Loggerenberg’s efforts to address the billing crisis in Mogale City culminated in failure. It was thwarted by the ANC and EFF, who deemed the issue non-urgent and relegated it to a mere administrative matter.
I advise these politicians to read Steven Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, where he drew a line of separation between importance and urgency.
Friedrich Nietzsche was also right when he said: “A politician divides mankind into two classes: tools and enemies.”
For these politicians, ratepayers and their grievances are disposable, meant to be used and discarded like toothpicks. Some of these politicians cannot read an income statement and a balance sheet, let alone draw up final accounts from the trial balance.
The DA leader, John Steenhuisen, embraces John Dewey’s view that education is not preparation for life, education is life itself, by enrolling for a degree at Unisa. The EFF leader, Julius Malema, did the same. Both leaders have acknowledged that education is the only weapon in our armoury to fight poverty, inequality, and unemployment.
If South Africa envisages itself to be a skills melting pot, the blast furnaces of academic institutions such as Unisa must provide the academic heat. Our government must ensure that our leaders are coated with relevant skills. The two leaders have realised that upon the education of the people of this country, the future of this country depends.
Education is the only equaliser. In 1995, as an editor of Human Focus at Spoornet, I wrote a story about Dr Alex Masianoga before he became a doctor, he only had a junior degree: “Alex Masianoga struggle for education has been costly, but priceless. He prizes nothing more precious than education. Alex eked out a poor existence on one meal a day, but he always kept his head above water. He never allowed poverty to take priority over his ambition. Alex had singleness of purpose, wanting one thing at a time. He is convinced that education is a necessity that has to be pursued energetically. He believes that success is failure turned inside out.”
Dr Masianoga has been an activist of note, he worked at Shell House, worked hard to be a business executive in the railways and now he is a seasoned entrepreneur as well as one who is committed to academic excellence.
Karl Marx foresaw a situation where the proletariats rebelled against the bourgeois. I foresee a situation where the literate will rebel against being governed by the illiterates, and when the illiterates are overthrown, “the people shall govern”.
The illiterates will be removed from their positions through the ballot box, Botswana is a perfect example. Fidel Castro wrote: “In Venezuela, in Bolivia, in Ecuador, in Peru, and Argentina, civil insurrections brought down presidents who were democratically elected both thought that once they won the elections they could do as they pleased throughout their terms of office – even, finally, betray their platforms and their people.”
Author and life coach Mathebula has a PhD in Construction Management.