Echoes of Childermas

Forgive me for beating this drum, if you think it is has been too long and too loud.  (The Vuvuzela is not the only noise arising from South Africa as the World Cup approaches!)

In the media today are two stories.  They did not appear on the same page, or even in the same section.  But to me they are linked, at the crux of Childermas:

Transforming leadership, so that children are safe

With impunity

This term impunity has become all too common in southern Africa.  When journalist Carlos Cardoso got too close to the truth about high-level corruption in Mozambique, and was getting ready to blow the whistle, he was gunned down in the streets of Maputo.  No one has been brought to book, after several years - because the finger pointed too high.  Who held Herod accountable for slaughtering the Innocents?

The speaker of the house in C4L’s municipality Mbombela (which encompasses White River, Nelspruit, Kabokweni, Kanyamazane and some other townships) was gunned down in his own back year in January 2009.

Jimmy Mohlala’s wife Bonny is suing police for wrongful arrest and assault.  She filed the lawsuit after police allegedly took her and her two children to the bush near Kanyamazane, not far from Nelspruit, and tortured them.  She claims that police tried to force her and her children to make a false confession that they were involved in her husband’s murder.

The truth is now coming to light, thanks to some good investigative journalism.  The media (not the police) identified the hitman and published the story some months ago.  His name, whereabouts and even his cell phone number (in Mozambique) were made known!

Last month, the hitman was interviewed telephonically by senior police officials.

Then last week, a meeting was set up at a border post, where the hitman, wearing a black tracksuit and white sneakers, made a 15-page hand-written confession before a judge of the High Court of South Africa.

In the confession, the hitman named the government officials and businessmen who hired him, with another Mozambican man, to be the executioners of a man who knew too much and had decided to blow the whistle.

The judge, who had seven witnesses (senior officials from justice department and police) will now report to the Police Commissioner.  It remains to be seen if any arrests will be made…

Black brain drain

Another report stated that almost half of South Africa's middle-class black teenagers plan to flee the country for greener pastures. In contrast, only 33% white and Indian youth want to go, reflecting a hardening of attitudes among black youngsters who have increasingly lost confidence in government.

The latest national BratTrax study conducted by research group Youth Dynamix reveals that although most black teenagers between 13 and 15 want to stay put, 42% are disillusioned and plan to leave as soon as they can.  The study, conducted this year, included face-to-face interviews with 900 youngsters aged 7 to 15 in eight of the nine provinces.

While previous research showed this group were positive about the developments in government and believed they would benefit, they had now lost confidence in their leaders.  "They are questioning our leaders and their capabilities.  They are feeling disillusioned," said research director Andrea Kraushaar.

Reflecting views similar to their white and Indian counterparts, 71% of black youth felt it was impossible to get employment in South Africa; 58% said crime made them want to live in another country; and 73% felt that government was not living up to its promises.

Professor Lawrence Schlebusch, an expert in behavioural medicine, said his research of stress and suicidal behaviour showed that stress levels were incredibly high among youth.  "They tend to experience alienation from their own value systems and the main reason for this is because they had great expectations of the new South Africa and these expectations are not being met.  "It is much harder for them now.  They are finding it more difficult to get into university, the unemployment rate is higher and there seems to be more and more polarisation," said Schlebusch

Connecting the dots

These two themes should be linked more explicitly – in the message of Childermas.

Leadership just has to be transformed.  You cannot get crime and corruption under control if you yourself are not above reproach.

Employment for youth simply has to be made a higher priority. Martin Luther King once said:  “A riot is at the bottom of the language of the unheard.”

Children are not safe in an environment where education services are worse now than they were before they were born.  According to forensic consultant Dr Klatzow: “A previous vice-chancellor of UCT, Mamphela Ramphela, is on record as saying that Bantu Education was better than the mess we have now...  Our education system is a complete mess.  We have the results of the OBE debacle to contend with, where the only certainty is that we will produce a generation of educationally crippled youth.”

Romeo Dallaire and Stephen Lewis talk about “the right to protect”.  This is ethically and politically difficult terrain, but the time has come to protect the children and youth of South Africa from their own leaders.  Starting with the ANC Youth League!