The President Must Take Full Personal Responsibility And Account To The Nkandla Saga - Comments By P

Those of us who are familiar with the Bible would know about the crisis man caused in the Garden of Eden when he crossed the line. It was a crisis that saw God come down from heaven to conduct an inquiry. Crises cannot be concealed, denied or wished away. They must be confronted. God did.

When He arrived at the garden, He went straight to Adam - the one who had been given responsibility to look after the garden - and asked him a pointed question: "Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" It is significant that God did not ask Eve or any of the other fellows - human or otherwise - inhabiting the garden about what had happened. God expects those who have been given responsibility to be the ones who account.

The first two words Adam uttered were quite revealing and have immortalized humanity's response to the crises we sometimes cause. Adam said: "The woman...." He would not take personal responsibility for the mess-up. Instead, Adam sought to shift the blame on to the next person. It is a mentality mankind is still trapped in to date: deny and shift the blame on to others. But Adam didn't stop there. The larger statement said: "The woman you gave to be with me gave me the fruit and I ate it." Here Adam outdid himself. If it wasn't the woman's fault it was God's fault because He gave him the woman! It's amazing how far we will go to avoid personal responsibility.

I am reminded of this biblical incident as I watch the Nkandla report and its attendant damage unfold. Advocate Thuli Madonsela is not God but it is to the strength of our constitutional democracy that when the Nkandla scandal surfaced, she did not shy away from investigating it. There were some Ministers, she says, who wished she did not pursue the investigation. It is natural. I was not at the Garden of Eden but I can bet my last penny that there were feelings of discomfort by the affected parties when an inquiry was held as to what had happened. Adam and Eve would rather God had stayed in heaven and not bothered about what they had done. But scandals cannot be wished away. They must be confronted.

As citizens of the republic, we have our own garden. It is called South Africa. There are many inhabitants and workers who tend this garden but the person who, by virtue of his office, is the ultimate custodian of the garden is President Jacob Zuma. When there is a crisis in the garden, especially in relation to that part of the garden which is for the public good, the answers must come from the President. More than R246 million of taxpayers' money has been used to upgrade his private residence. There is nothing wrong with doing security upgrades in the residence of the head of state but funding non-security features with taxpayers' money cannot be morally justified.

So far President Zuma has been quite on the report but at some stage he needs to pronounce himself on the matter and take responsibility for what happened. By doing the latter, it would not necessarily mean he is guilty of any wrongdoing but that he admits the buck stops with him. Adam did not personally pluck a fruit from the tree. He was given a fruit to eat and failed to ask pertinent questions or to remind Eve about the rules of the garden. God held him personally accountable before He could deal with Eve and the snake.

There is no doubt that those who gave the President the fruit to eat - causing him to benefit on things like the swimming pool, a cattle byre, the culvert, the chicken run and amphitheater - must be held accountable. And that includes some of his Ministers and officials. But that does not and should not release him from personal responsibility. Indeed, the President must display moral courage and not succumb to the Adamic syndrome, strong as it may be, of blaming these exclusively on officials. It is commendable that long before the Public Protector's report was out he had already asked the Special Investigating Unit to probe this matter. He should take it a step further and implement the recommendations of the Public Protector.

One hopes we have all learnt our lessons from this sorry episode. To our political leaders, they have to treat the public purse with respect. To government officials, rules and regulations have to be followed and there is no room psycophancy with public money. To detractors of the Public Protector, our democracy is doomed without the Independence and proper functioning of our Chapter 9 institutions. To citizens in general, be vigilant and hold leaders accountable and guard our Democracy jealously.

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