CHARMAIN NAIDOO: Nene's resignation was astonishing. Let's hope it has set the bar higher
'Nene, to the utter astonishment of every South African, resigned. In so doing, he has become the first person in in the history of our new democracy to do so'
EXTRACT
Nene, to the utter astonishment of every South African, resigned. In so doing, he has become the first person in in the history of our new democracy to do so.
It’s not something our chaps in government have absorbed into their consciousness: If you lie (or behave in an unseemly fashion) then you have a moral obligation to resign.
Tell that to the morally reprehensible former Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini, who failed the old, frail and needy by botching the disbursement of social grants.
Or Malusi Gigaba who kept his job (and then put in charge of this country’s finances) despite evidence that Home Affairs was selling citizenship to illegal immigrants – and the likes of state capturers like the Guptas too.
I’ve just come off the Whale Trail, a 50-something-km walk through the pristine De Hoop Nature Reserve in the Western Cape. It was my first ever hike in the wilderness, or anywhere for that matter. My mantra for the last 59 years has been: exercise means walking to the lift. I triumphantly announced: “I did it!” on my FaceBook page to which one of my friends replied: "LOVE that hike. It’s one long meditation." Erm… not for me. My victory posting was less cock-a-hoop and more relief; like Hallelujah, I got out alive. Of course it’s beautiful. Not for nothing is the De Hoop Nature Reserve and Marine Protected Area called the Jewel of the Fynbos. The natural shrubland is a symphony of colour; proteas and ericas dot the mountain side, cascading with grasses and restios and vytjies. Overhead, the endangered Cape Vulture soars, its glorious wingspan revealing a white undercarriage with black tipped wings. The magnificence of an unspoilt natural sanctuary where there is limited human passa...
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