DAVID MOSOMA | Moral, ethical training may address social ills dogging SA

The socio-economic and political ills characterised by crime, gender-based violence, corruption, kidnappings, disrespect of the sanctity of human life and racism raise the question of how to engender moral and ethical values in our daily lives.

The collapse of social, economic, and political values is an indication of the erosion of the moral fiber of society – a tipping point for moral decadence. In a sense, we live in a society likened to the jungle where only the fittest survive.

At the core of these reflections is the disjuncture between knowing moral codes and living it in practice. Aristotle taught that “those who know do, those who understand teach”, meaning that knowledge should invariably lead to action and understanding leads to dissemination and creation of further knowledge in a circular fashion.

In this way, the knowledge of the good must always find expression in the practice of the good. The moral and ethical gap is glaringly true between knowing the good and doing the good, knowing the truth and being truthful, knowing respect and being respectful, and knowing peace, being a peace agent, and knowing honour and being honourable or living a life of integrity.

The CRL Rights Commission has profoundly reflected on this challenge for our country of how to effect the interplay between knowing the values and living them to shape human lives and promote a peaceful coexistence.

Arguably, moral and ethical training may offer possible norms and standards to address the social, economic and political ills that are dogging the communities, and provide the basis for shared common values in a society striving to promote and build unity in diversity.

As you may know, moral and ethical training takes various forms – from observation to active practice. For example, children learn and emulate by observing the behaviour they see and internalise it unless they receive guidance in advance in differentiating right from wrong, and peer pressure plays a significant part in this context.

Therefore, it is encouraged that children be exposed to conduct and behaviour that are conducive for good character building to engender and inculcate positive values.

The emphasis here is that any inquiry (study, research and science), action (praxis be it in economy, education, religion politics) and pursuit (training) must aim at the good, not for its own sake but for the good of the community.

At present the role of the community in moral and ethical training and guidance have effectively collapsed. Therefore, there is an urgent need to initiate the recovery of the community and restoration of the family unit to play a role in shaping the moral and ethical character in society.

The CRL Rights Commission is striving to empower and build communities of moral and ethical practice to serve as a teaching model to emulate and serve in the promotion of common loyalty. The community gives hope and encouragement to communities (educational institutions, religious, commercial and political) to embrace and appropriate the responsibility of offering programmes of moral and ethical training in homes and national institutions in order to shape citizens as moral agents.

This call is urgent if we are to restore the moral fiber and foundation of our nation.

Fortunately, all is not lost because the foundations such as justice, equality, honesty, integrity, respect, sanctity of human life, friendship, unity and humanity are not destroyed. We can build on them if we are seriously committed to the project of moral and ethical recovery.

My argument, however, is not about the lack of knowledge and understanding of moral and ethical values as such but rather that when situations at work or decision-making processes present themselves, some leaders, managers, politicians and ordinary people act as if values do not matter.

If one takes the example of the rampant corruption in our country, it is unthinkable to imagine that the actors are ethically and morally ignorant. It may well be at moment the power of desire, greed and personal gratification had clouded one’s moral and ethical judgment. Moral agency requires that one be vigilant at the consequences of the decisions one makes at all material times – consequences are either praise or blame.

The country has reached a stage where moral and ethical training skills is not optional but one that must be at the centre of our national educational agenda. In this regard, the commission envisages developing training programmes on its core mandate: the ethic of peace-making, friendship, humanity (African value of Ubuntu), tolerance, unity in diversity and equality.  

The cultural, religious and linguistic communities must understand that the mandate to promote and protect their rights is inextricably linked with their moral and ethical obligations to create a morally and ethically sound society.

• Prof Mosoma is the chairperson of the CRL Rights Commission