Stepping down in honour seems hard to do in SA

The call to do the "honourable thing" has become some kind of a cliché.

It is not taken as seriously as it should be, especially in the public sector. Yet, it is one of the most important calls when directed at miscreants who exercise public power - be they politicians, high-ranking civil servants or leaders of state-owned enterprises.

The call to do the "honourable thing" is also important when made to wrongdoers who derive power in the private space but exercise it in a manner that impacts on the public in general. A chief executive of a publicly listed company that trades recklessly is an example.

When such powerful people are found to be in the wrong and compromise the integrity of the institutions or organisations they lead, it is appropriate for citizens to call on them to do the "honourable thing". Much better if they take the initiative.

Doing the "honourable thing" is a way of bowing your head down in disgrace, but being honourable enough to admit your sins while vacating the institution so that it may recover its integrity. The "honourable thing" was best illustrated by Sifiso Dabengwa, MTN Group president and chief executive officer.

Dabengwa was head of MTN when Nigerian regulatory authorities fined the company R72-billion for failing to obey an order to disconnect unregistered sim cards.

The JSE-listed company had failed to inform shareholders of the Nigerian debacle when it first surfaced and when the fine was eventually imposed. And when the news leaked, the company's share price nose-dived, reducing the wealth of investors.

With MTN facing a barrage of criticism about how it failed to handle the matter diligently, Dabengwa resigned in what the company spokesman Chris Maroleng described as a "gesture of honour".

It was such a commendable thing to see: a captain taking responsibility for misdirecting the ship even if, according to Maroleng, the resignation was not an admission of guilt.

It sounds contradictory to praise someone under whose leadership investors lost so much of their wealth. But we live in a country where doing the "honourable thing" is as challenging as President Jacob Zuma facing an impenetrable seven-digit number.

Imagine if the dodgy characters who lead powerful institutions were to resign as a "gesture of honour", not because they think they have done something wrong but out of respect for public outrage. We would ululate. Our institutions would have a space to inhale oxygen.

Many are being suffocated to death. Take South African Airways. It should be - in fact it is - the pride of the nation. But it is being single-handedly ruined by Dudu Myeni, a de facto airline management intern otherwise known as chairwoman for purposes of company letterheads and appearing in Sawubona magazine.

Sadly, she is doing whatever she does seemingly with tacit approval from the top.

Despite evidence of dodgy deals in the public domain for some time, Myeni is sticking around because clearly her aim, it seems, was never about bringing "honour" to the company. So she doesn't think her departure will in anyway result in the recovery of "honour". The idea of "honour" seems totally foreign and counterproductive to fathom.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the suspended chief operating officer of the SABC, is another character who is clueless about the concept of honour. Having been found to be ethically unfit for the position by the public protector, exposed for falsely claiming that he had a matric certificate and causing so much embarrassment to the SABC and the journalism fraternity due to his gibberish speeches, he is still hanging around.

He's prepared to go to disciplinary processes even when the writing is on the wall. Where is the honour in all this?

In the public service, look at suspended police commissioner Riah Phiyega. No doubt one of the most respectful people you can find around, she nevertheless squandered her moral capital by not stepping down after the Marikana Commission of Inquiry suggested that she was dishonest in her testimony.

Had she quit, she would have spared the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of rands, if not millions, to be spent in investigating her. In any case, there was no honour in her accepting the job in the first place, knowing full well there are career police officers who deserved to lead the SA Police Service and who know how to handcuff a suspect and take statements.

Lastly, there is the case of Advocate Nomgcobo Jiba, a deputy national director at the National Prosecuting Authority. Several judges have made damning comments about her unbecoming conduct.

The General Council of the Bar is investigating her. She may be disbarred from the profession.

But it seems not a bit in her conscience tells her to quit, allowing this important institution to regain its standing in society and in the criminal justice system of which it is part.

If we consider the case of Dabengwa against Myeni, Phiyega, Hlaudi and Jiba it would be difficult not to appreciate Dabengwa's "honourable gesture".

Such gestures are hard to come by in a country where doing the "honourable thing" is frowned upon. One wonders what would be South Africa's position if there was something called the global rankings on honour.