Providing freedom, love, education and example to their children is a fundamental requirement of good parenthood, and the state has a responsibility to enable parents to raise children into adulthood in a stable, healthy, progressive and productive political and socio-economic environment.
The ANC has long defined itself as the “Leader of Society.” Certainly, it has been the dominant player in our politics for decades, but given that we are a constitutional democracy with universal franchise, it is appropriate to suggest that all the elected members of our national Parliament represent a chosen “leadership collective” which is responsible for the oversight of the actions of the Executive and its appointees in the Public Sector. This collective leadership is thus ultimately accountable for the manner in which we uphold our Constitution, protect and promote its values and advance the well-being of all members of South African society.
Parliament should act as a kind of “paterfamilias” taking care of the needs of the national family and providing it with a stable political, socio-economic environment within which individual families have the opportunity to thrive and prosper, and creating the potential for upcoming generations to do the same.
Parents do not have a legal or moral obligation to provide their children with largesse, inherited wealth or other benefits. However, children do have rights and parents, over and above their legal obligations in terms of the Children’s Act 2005, do have a moral duty to try and conform to a kind of familial bill of rights. Parents will have their own interpretation and manner of exercising moral parental obligations, but this article examines their ability to bring up their children in an environment of personal freedom, omnipresent love, with appropriate education and the necessary adult example. This is the exercise of the “FLEE principle” (Freedom, Love, Education, Example) and in support of this, our “Leaders of Society” should themselves collectively and individually underpin and apply this principle.
South Africans should thus be asking the question as to whether Parliament, as the Leader of Society, has fulfilled this obligation and whether the nation’s parents, from whatever social or economic class, colour or creed, can realistically provide their emerging families with the environment, means and potential to live in safety and security, with dignity, relative prosperity and with the promise of an even better and brighter future?
Freedom
Freedom of mind and body is a product of people’s ability to live in a state of mental and physical safety and security, to reside in a functioning abode with a reliable supply of water and electricity, to be provided with a healthy diet, to have access to medical care and to have options and make their own choices about careers, domiciles, sexual orientation, etc.
Some, and in many cases all these freedoms are not readily available for a majority of our young citizens. Rampant, out-of-control crime, gang warfare, drug lords, gender-based violence, child abuse, kidnapping, homelessness, understaffed and malfunctioning clinics and hospitals, massive unemployment and a near-stagnant economy plagued by unworkable laws, rules and regulations all hinder parents from providing these basic freedoms for their children, many of whom now live in a state of capture, despair, fear and hopelessness.
The blame for this “freedomless” condition lies not with our parents but with the crass, ideologically-conflicted failed policies and practices of our political leaders, who relentlessly crave publicity, power, privilege and personal or party financial gain rather than serving the interests and well-being of ordinary families and future generations. The “Leaders of Society” have quite simply failed in their mandate to provide a “better life for all”, have bankrupted our country of resources and carelessly emptied the national purse of funds needed to protect these essential freedoms for our youth.
Love
There’s an absence of love in our country, aggravated by hate speech, “kill the boer”, “bring me my machine gun” songs, personal insults and accusations, blatant racism and threats to life and limb. These attitudes, so regularly and regrettably indulged in by our politicians even at leadership levels, breed discontent and intolerance in our society and further prevent parents from embracing and practising love as the most essential ingredient of the FLEE principle.
The composer/singer Reg Presley claims that “Love is all around us”, and the Bible teaches us that “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance”. Our hostile, divided and destructive politics and politicians make a mockery of these uplifting sentiments and likewise complicate the ability of parents to bring up children in a society filled with love, care and compassion.
Education
Our troubled, underfunded schools, universities and other educational facilities are showing limited ability to provide our burgeoning youth with the levels of knowledge, skills and acumen needed to fully integrate themselves into the broader economic space, and help create an intelligent, intellectually advanced and globally respected competitive nation. The neglect and omission of our “leaders” to preserve, protect and foster appropriate and adequate educational facilities has aggravated unemployment and has reduced parental ability to provide their children with the benefits of the best possible education. Our national educational structure is in crisis, and poses a serious threat to our economy and our citizens’ livelihoods.
Example
Whilst most parents strive to set an example to their children as to how to conduct themselves respectfully, diligently and with integrity, this task is overshadowed by the deplorable example shown by so many of our “honourable” politicians. Acts of hooliganism, disorder and disobedience in our Parliament show just how little some politicians care about the decorum and dignity of this supposed national political body, and reflect their disregard of how their unruly behaviour damages any attempt to create a society devoid of “conduct unbecoming”.
Reports of lies, deceit, bribery, corruption and sheer incompetence within all ranks of our politicians and their appointed cadres dominate the media. These send all the wrong signals to our youth and render the parental task of instilling the values of honour, respect, integrity, diligence and responsibility into their children almost impossible. To make matters worse, many of the “leaders of the leaders” stand either guilty or accused of these same crimes. Others have dark clouds hanging over them related to their unexplained wealth, lavish lifestyles, private abuse of state funds, dubious personal financial transactions and various forms of nepotism, cronyism, and autocracy. Under the guise of “nonaligned” foreign policy, some leaders and their parties cosy up to warlords, despots, dictators and even states that support terrorism and the annihilation of Israel. Some denounce the sovereignty and independence of countries such as Taiwan.
In these circumstances, how do we provide our youth with wisdom, consistency, conviction, confidence and clarity of thought when they come to forming opinions, making choices and conducting themselves productively and honourably, and with pride and belief in themselves, their leaders and their country?
Not all parents instinctively desire to practise the FLEE principles, but most of them do, and try to implement them to the best of their ability, Certainly there are a number of members of our national Parliament that support and promote its tenets. But one cannot help but draw the conclusion that the “Leaders of Society” have generally failed to recognise the importance of Freedom, Love, Education, and Example in our country, have failed to provide them, and have thus failed our youth, our parents and our nation.
The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR.
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