The Government as a moral agent in the process of moral renewal in South Africa : a Christian ethical perspective

Abstract

South African society relapsed into widespread moral decay. This process started with the inception of apartheid society and is still progressing. The moral decay of the South African society manifest in many destructive patterns of living, namely; sexual immorality, reversed racism, unemployment, poverty, food insecurity, xenophobia, strikes, gambling, debts, drug/ substance abuse, human trafficking and corruption. Argued within the Reformed paradigm drawn from John Calvin, Abraham Kuyper, Karl Barth, B.J Van Der Walt and South Africa Constitution the government can be regarded as a moral agent and has a responsibility to inspire and direct moral renewal in South Africa within the framework of its role in governing the South Africa society. These pointers should be noted drawn from these prominent Reformed theologians: * South African leaders should be reminded that civil servant should not be in the office to serve themselves, but to serve the people who elected them and ultimately God who place them in the office. Merit should be considered when placing civil servant in the office. * Freedom of religion should mean freedom of religion whereby religious bodies should participate and have more influence in issues that affect our country morally. * South Africa promotes reconciliation but is not yet fully reconciled. We should promote integration of society and stop division on basis of race and class. * Public justice must be strengthened. No one should be the above the law. Politicians are behaving as if they are above the law. There should be good cooperation between law enforcement agencies and the justice system. Good legislation must be put in place. * The South Africa government lacks consultation and monitoring. Basic service delivery is in demand and the government is failing on reaching those demand. For the government to reach those demand, the public service needs to be guided by certain principles including accountability, honesty, impartiality, service quality, professionalism and motivation. Government institutions and churches must stand up to fight moral decay. We were supposed to look on politicians for moral regeneration but most politicians are morally degenerate. South Africa need strong uncorrupted leaders who have vision, merit and administrative skills so he/she can start to lead South Africa towards peace and prosperity. There should be a set of moral standard that need to be put in place to rescue South Africa from moral decay and lawlessness. A democratic state based on the rule of law could not exist or function if the government ignored its constitutional obligations and failed to abide by court orders. As ordinary citizens, we are concerned with the integrity of the rule of law and the administration of justice. The undermining of the rule of law by government is often done gradually and surreptitiously. The courts must fearlessly address this through its judgments and not hesitate to keep the executive within the law. Corruption is likely to spread or exist if government officials, law enforcement agency, justice system, managers and citizenry observe unethical behaviour but ignore it.