The saying that “you must choose only loyal people” holds true. Who better to illustrate this than Deputy President David Mabuza. By betraying the radical economic transformation forces in favour of President Cyril Ramaphosa at the 11th hour during the last elective conference of the ANC, he did himself an injustice.
He lost a lot of support from both sides due to that erratic behaviour. That was the behaviour of an untrustworthy person, concerned with his own selfish interests more than anything. Now he is left in the wilderness as he fights for political survival after failing to garner enough votes to continue in his role as deputy for a second term.
Our society really needs a good dose of old-fashioned honesty, particularly among its leaders. In the business sector, politics, schools, homes, and even in churches, we see a total decline of this vital quality and virtue.
Why can’t we recapture the spirit and moral character of former US president Abraham Lincoln, who throughout his career as a lawyer had a partner that ran his office matters while he was busy attending to a plethora of cases?
After collecting fees for each case, he would, before going back to his office, often divide the money that was in his wallet, carefully wrapping his partner’s half in a piece of paper on which he wrote his partner’s name and the case number it was received for.
In so doing, should anything happen to him before delivering the money, no-one would dispute the amount and for whom it was intended. Although it sounds trivial, this practice earned him huge respect among his people and in the legal fraternity. Mabuza lacked such honesty when he traded Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s votes for a plate of curry.
We should make it our mission to live in such a way that the word “honest” sounds right when placed in front of our names. “Whatever things are of good report, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are praiseworthy, we must think of these virtues,” so says the Bible.
Samuel Radebe, Heilbron
READER LETTER | Good, old-fashioned honesty needed in leaders
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The saying that “you must choose only loyal people” holds true. Who better to illustrate this than Deputy President David Mabuza. By betraying the radical economic transformation forces in favour of President Cyril Ramaphosa at the 11th hour during the last elective conference of the ANC, he did himself an injustice.
He lost a lot of support from both sides due to that erratic behaviour. That was the behaviour of an untrustworthy person, concerned with his own selfish interests more than anything. Now he is left in the wilderness as he fights for political survival after failing to garner enough votes to continue in his role as deputy for a second term.
Our society really needs a good dose of old-fashioned honesty, particularly among its leaders. In the business sector, politics, schools, homes, and even in churches, we see a total decline of this vital quality and virtue.
Why can’t we recapture the spirit and moral character of former US president Abraham Lincoln, who throughout his career as a lawyer had a partner that ran his office matters while he was busy attending to a plethora of cases?
After collecting fees for each case, he would, before going back to his office, often divide the money that was in his wallet, carefully wrapping his partner’s half in a piece of paper on which he wrote his partner’s name and the case number it was received for.
In so doing, should anything happen to him before delivering the money, no-one would dispute the amount and for whom it was intended. Although it sounds trivial, this practice earned him huge respect among his people and in the legal fraternity. Mabuza lacked such honesty when he traded Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s votes for a plate of curry.
We should make it our mission to live in such a way that the word “honest” sounds right when placed in front of our names. “Whatever things are of good report, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are praiseworthy, we must think of these virtues,” so says the Bible.
Samuel Radebe, Heilbron
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