A Most Appropriate Memorial: the Mandela School of Government
I’ve been fairly quiet for the past ten days or so, thinking about the late Nelson Mandela. This was a man I interviewed on several occasions and met once, hosting him at the launch of a biography by Charlene Smith. No need for me to repeat any of the superlatives which have been spoken again and again about him – it’s all been said; the words, like Mandela, will live on in history.
What really caused me to clam up, unusually introspective, is the yawning gap between South Africa’s potential ca.1995-96 and our current state. Then, we were a nation poised to seize greatness, to lead our continent, to emancipate apartheid’s slaves, to reconcile black and white, to become a beacon to the world. Twenty years or so later, we stand peering into a bucket of sleaze, led by a crop of nobodies bent only on enriching themselves, at least one of whom should be in jail.
It’s the gap, if you like, between Mandela’s promise – what could have been – and his legacy – what he and the political party he fought so bravely for – have actually delivered.
What happened? What went wrong?
There’s no doubt in my mind that poor education sits at heart of this matter. We’re familiar with this argument and yes, the blame can be laid fairly and squarely at the feet of H.F. Verwoerd and his cronies. Nor should we ever forget the likes of Oom Paul Kruger, Louis Botha, Cecil Rhodes et al. But the last 20 years were on Mandela’s watch, and those of the men who succeeded him: Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. You can fix a lot in 20 years and in education they did not, Mandela included – and bless him for all that he did achieve.
So let’s start right away by trying to close the gap with a graduate-level facility – a ‘school’ as the Americans call them – dedicated to the study of governing in the public sector and public interest as well as the formulation of public policy.
The Americans already have such a place: it’s the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and we could use it as a model for the Nelson Mandela School of Government. The Harvard school was established just after World War II with a $2 million donation – at that time, the largest bequest ever made to a university – and it was only in 1966 that it was renamed to honour the assassinated President. We don’t need to wait and I know that there are some very, very deep pockets in this land of ours who would be delighted and honoured to fund such a prestigious academy.
Let me be clear: this would not be a civil service training college of the kind being mooted by Public Service Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu, although it could assist that area. Rather, it would seek to – well, let me quote from the Harvard Kennedy School website: “..to place itself at the vanguard of studying public policy and preparing its practitioners.”
It would attract South Africa’s finest minds in these disciplines, as well as their fellows from all over the rest of Africa, to say nothing of elsewhere in the world. Above all, it would teach that governments serve the people who elect them and who pay their salaries. How best to deliver that service would be up for vigorous debate, of course. The end result: a class of politician and public servant far more capable of delivering Mandela’s dreams than the nightmares produced by his successors.
The Nelson R. Mandela School of Government. It has a ring to it, don’t you think. A most appropriate memorial.