President Jacob Zuma has called for a cleansing ceremony for South Africa.
I recently decided to take a sabbatical from reading newspapers and listening to the news. I needed a break from hearing about violence against women and children, a break from brutal, heart-breaking reports on rape. I was tired of hearing we do not have strong leadership and reading those worrying reports about our approach to basic education.
I then asked myself what was the root cause of the challenges we are facing. I realised that our president was at the centre of those myriad challenges. Leadership will always set a precedent on behaviour, attitude and principles adopted at any time.
I think there are four key challenges facing our country. They are aggravated by the kind of leader we choose for ourselves.
Rape: We must be mad as a people to expect anything other than our current state of affairs with regard to rape. We shot ourselves in the stomach by electing a president who was acquitted of rape. What message did we think we were sending to the public? Acquitted or not, the president's name and rape are now associated; they are mentioned in one sentence.
The ANC Women's League was bashing the supposedly wronged person in the president's rape case, so how do you expect any urgency from the ministry of women, children and people with disabilities in addressing the pandemic of rape?
Crime and corruption: The people around us shape us and are shaped by us. We have a president who was associated with the Schabir Shaiks of this world and had corruption charges dropped against him. How do you then reprimand the private sector when it colludes to fix bread prices? How do you hold construction companies accountable for price-fixing?
Our president has created an enabling environment for corruption; he is the champion of the "eat, pray, love" culture that reigns in our country – a culture in which people eat as much as they want, pray that they won't get caught and, if they do get caught, they are saved by the fact that they have loved everyone so much that their relationships are watertight and they cannot be reprimanded.
We are now applauding the president for firing the former communications minister, Dina Pule, who should have been fired a million moons ago.
Education: Apartheid did a lot to ensure that black people do not have good-quality education. But Nelson Mandela is educated; Thabo Mbeki is educated. Therefore, it means it is possible to have a president who is educated.
But we selected a president with a shortage of skills. How do you expect him to appreciate the importance of education when he could reach the highest level of leadership without one? How do you convince the youth of the significance of education when our president has none – and is not seen as a change agent in the education front. Are we not crazy to expect our president to realise Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga's incapacity? On what basis would our president know good education, using what as a reference?
Lack of vision: We will always remember Mandela for his desire for a rainbow nation, a colourful nation that reflects love, peace and forgiveness. We will revere Mbeki for the idea of an African renaissance, building the rich pride that is Africa. How will we remember Jacob Zuma? Will it be for his association with the Guptas, for his Buckingham Palace at Nkandla, or his great singing ability?
As we prepare for elections next year, we need to think hard about our beautiful South Africa and the kind of leadership it deserves. We also need to step up and lead in our own spheres of influence. We cannot replicate Zuma's leadership model ourselves and then want to persecute him for poor leadership.
We need to lead from the bottom up. It is no longer enough to have a Mandela Day. We need to make every day, every hour, every minute, a Mandela Day. Mandela did his part; we all need to run with our individual batons and shape the world. South Africans, be blessed – and be a blessing. – Lesego Setou, Johannesburg
Sharp sharp! AmaBhungane deserve applause for the way they have exposed the Nkandlagate scandal, leaving us with the question: Do we really need a president whose bling lifestyle is funded by the state and by business people such as the Gupta family, Vivian Reddy and Roy Moodley?
Without amaBhungane, the nation would be in the dark about the fact that taxpayers' money built Jacob Zuma's cattle enclosure at a cost of R1-million ("Inside Zuma's cow-a-bunker", July 12).
Are cows' comfort more important than sanitation in schools? Is plunder the reason why Zuma failed to stop ministers such as Blade Nzimande from buying bling cars? He also allowed Sbu Ndebele to take a R1-million Mercedes Benz from contractors who did work for KwaZulu-Natal when Ndebele was serving in the provincial executive.
The media has helped the nation to understand how some of freedom fighters are now lootocrats worse than the "homeland" leaders.
AmaBhungane's investigative journalism will be the main target of the Protection of State Information Bill, together with patriotic officials who expose such corruption.
I expect amaBhungane to investigate the existence of the "bond" the president claims he has. Violation of the Public Finance Management Act is a serious offence. – Felicity Ngubane, Newcastle