Black & White, Rich & Poor

South Africa has historically been divided by race.  The term “rainbow nation” was coined to capture the need for reconciliation and “managing diversity”.  But this is changing, as power and wealth are moving slowly but surely into the hands of the “historically disadvantaged” – and with a rising number of poor whites.  Twenty years after the advent of Democracy, a kind of class system is emerging.  On this note I quote at length an excerpt from a recent article by Yacoob Abba Omar, called Rebuilding the soul of the nation:

“One of the government’s seminal documents, issued by the Presidency earlier this year, titled “Twenty Year Review 1994-2014”, notes there are “varying views about the transparency of the amnesty process, the adequacy of the reparations and the completeness of investigations and prosecutions, as well as the overall impact of the TRC in forging reconciliation”.

“This sense of unfinished business is what pervades a recently concluded Mapungubwe Institute research into Nation Formation and Social Cohesion, due to be released in July. It will also impact on the government’s attempts to rebuild the soul of the nation.

“The Twenty Year Review also talks of the need to address moral decay in society and the need to instil positive values. As long as Zuma remains convinced that he has done no wrong as far as Nkandla is concerned, and in the enrichment of his close family, and the many other things he has been accused of, he will make feisty calls for the level of morality to improve in South Africa.

“Ethics in the public service is but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to addressing the soul of the South African nation.

“The Mapungubwe Institute has tabled a proposal to government departments and parts of big business that what we need is a broader, deeper, multi-layered and multi-faceted interrogation of the ethical foundations of the South African nation.

“Such an interrogation must cover politics, business and the government, but also extend to the family, civil society and faith-based organisations, as well as the role of education, sports, entertainment and the media, in shaping the ethical foundation of our nation.

“It will have to address the scourge of crime in every form – domestic, white collar, violent, sexual, petty – which has come to touch every South African.”

I second the emotion!

But how?

Personally I think the seminal phrase in the quote above is “shaping the ethical foundation of our nation”.  Who is doing that?

Surely the churches, mosques and temples are contributing.  But has anyone ever studied the moral and ethical values espoused on the soapies like Scandal, Isidingo, Generation, and 4 de Lann?  South Africans, women in particular, collectively, must spend a lot more time every week in front of the “boob tube” than in a church pew.

In everyday life, work places should be ruled by the King Code on Corporate Governance.  Mervyn King has always included a section in that code on Ethics.  Companies are encouraged to adopt a code of conduct, deriving from an internal, intentional set of core values.  The King Code basically promotes the Golden Rule – do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

It’s a good start, but so many concerns have been expressed globally about the lack of morality of corporations, which don’t have souls.  They exist to make a profit and their directors are bound (by law) to do what is best for their company, that is - for its bottom line.  So the extent to which that profit motive can be balanced by having a double bottom line (financial and social) or even foster a just and developmental corporate culture can be questioned.

One nonprofit in South Africa is tackling this challenge head on.  It is called Unashamedly Ethical, and C4L is a member.  Check out its URL on that name.  It is a good effort.

On President Zuma’s state visit to the UK, the press really roasted him, in particular for polygamy.  In his sixties, he had just fathered a “love child” with a young lady in her twenties.  His reply was cryptic - that we need to hold a Morality Summit.

Yes, I agree.  I echo his thought that we do not even ask the right questions, to say nothing of not having the right answers.

Three Bible stories come to mind.  First the parable told by Nathan the prophet when he confronted King David.  The way the rich and powerful treat the poor and unemployed needs to be exposed.  Second, the parable of Jesus about separating the sheep and the goats.  Clearly, each groups had a distinct ethical foundation.  It was those who expressed their faith by sharing, by engaging with the poor, who were welcomed into the Kingdom.  Finally, the parable of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus.  Guess who ended up in heaven?

One can connect the dots between the Reconciliation emphasis of 20 years ago with the Redistribution emphasis of today.  Not just in South Africa, but in the church, globally.  In one denomination, the Pope is making some good noises about this theme of Inequality.

This week I saw a movie called Heaven is for Real.  Have you seen it?  I really resonated with the Pastor in that movie - whose son gets to go to heaven and come back.  He saw naked truth in his son’s frank honesty and simplicity, he was just too young to be complicated or manipulative.  But his grappling with that issue really divided his flock.

That is where I find myself.  I say repeatedly what I think is clear, obvious and scriptural.  Yet some are skeptical and uncomfortable, and I find myself alienated from some genuine believers.  I can only quote David Bosch, the great South Africa theologian: “Christianity that doesn’t begin with the individual, doesn’t begin; but Christianity that ends with the individual, ends.”  On this ethical foundation let us rebuild the soul of the nation.