SOUTH Africa has to raise the bar in terms of the quality of its leadership in order to continue the process of national reconciliation, former president Thabo Mbeki said last night.
A day after President Jacob Zuma was jeered at the memorial service of former president Nelson Mandela, Mr Mbeki came out strongly on the need for a higher calibre of leadership in South Africa in order to address the many challenges the country continued to face.
Mr Zuma and Mr Mbeki have a tainted recent history as the two men faced off for the ANC presidency in 2007 in a divisive leadership battle, ending in the latter’s recall from the Union Buildings months before the conclusion of his second term.
Mr Mbeki was addressing a memorial service for former president Nelson Mandela at the Calvary Methodist Church in Midrand.
Mandela’s generation had bequeathed many values to those who followed, Mr Mbeki said at the packed church, overflowing into an equally full overflow tent.
"Principal among these values is to serve the people, not to serve themselves," he said, causing the audience to erupt into applause.
Celebrating Mandela’s life also meant commitment to these values.
South Africa was on the cusp of celebrating the 20th anniversary of its democracy and this posed the challenge of asking "where we are" as a nation. Mr Mbeki said the country needed "a self critical evaluation" in order to determine what it had done right and what it had done wrong. This was necessary to chart a "common way forward" for our country.
"One thing we still need to achieve is national reconciliation," he said. South Africa had yet to address poverty and could only do so by working together. "It is only when we are able to act together … that we can say we are making progress towards national reconciliation."
The legacy of apartheid remained in much of the country. "In the end I think for us to address those matters ... will come back to quality (of) leadership," he said.
The struggle against apartheid called for a particular kind of leader, one ready to sacrifice and serve. Now, the requirements in leaders were different and more complex.
"It is difficult to see who is the enemy … I think exactly because what we are dealing with is more complex, we need to raise the level of quality of leadership," he said.
While most in the audience applauded Mr Mbeki’s comments, some booed when he spoke of raising the bar which prompted him to quip: "Surely, we can’t lower them."
Former president Thabo Mbeki. Picture: SOWETAN
SOUTH Africa has to raise the bar in terms of the quality of its leadership in order to continue the process of national reconciliation, former president Thabo Mbeki said last night.
A day after President Jacob Zuma was jeered at the memorial service of former president Nelson Mandela, Mr Mbeki came out strongly on the need for a higher calibre of leadership in South Africa in order to address the many challenges the country continued to face.
Mr Zuma and Mr Mbeki have a tainted recent history as the two men faced off for the ANC presidency in 2007 in a divisive leadership battle, ending in the latter’s recall from the Union Buildings months before the conclusion of his second term.
Mr Mbeki was addressing a memorial service for former president Nelson Mandela at the Calvary Methodist Church in Midrand.
Mandela’s generation had bequeathed many values to those who followed, Mr Mbeki said at the packed church, overflowing into an equally full overflow tent.
"Principal among these values is to serve the people, not to serve themselves," he said, causing the audience to erupt into applause.
Celebrating Mandela’s life also meant commitment to these values.
South Africa was on the cusp of celebrating the 20th anniversary of its democracy and this posed the challenge of asking "where we are" as a nation. Mr Mbeki said the country needed "a self critical evaluation" in order to determine what it had done right and what it had done wrong. This was necessary to chart a "common way forward" for our country.
"One thing we still need to achieve is national reconciliation," he said. South Africa had yet to address poverty and could only do so by working together. "It is only when we are able to act together … that we can say we are making progress towards national reconciliation."
The legacy of apartheid remained in much of the country. "In the end I think for us to address those matters ... will come back to quality (of) leadership," he said.
The struggle against apartheid called for a particular kind of leader, one ready to sacrifice and serve. Now, the requirements in leaders were different and more complex.
"It is difficult to see who is the enemy … I think exactly because what we are dealing with is more complex, we need to raise the level of quality of leadership," he said.
While most in the audience applauded Mr Mbeki’s comments, some booed when he spoke of raising the bar which prompted him to quip: "Surely, we can’t lower them."
