By Howard Feldman, Synthesis
This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and it seemed that Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. It wasn’t particularly challenging, meaning that Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
What followed was that Somebody got angry, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn’t do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have.
Welcome to South Africa in 2023.
Lolly Daskal, executive business coach and CEO of Lead from Within, uses the well-known story to illustrate the concept of ownership and responsibility to leadership teams. It talks to ownership as it talks to accountability. But whereas it might be used extensively in leadership training, its application to South Africa and particularly to the political environment should not be ignored.
So much so that I would argue that lack of accountability has been one of the most significant failings of the ANC. In a particularly ironic move, the party has managed to turn the concept of judicial enquiries on its head. Rather than indicating a willingness and interest to uncover the truth, it has become synonymous with further obfuscation. It provides a “valid reason” to not address a pressing matter “because it is the subject of an enquiry” which serves only to “kick the can down the road”.
The result is that South Africans have a very low level of trust when it comes to these so called enquiries, and have come to see them not only having little positive value, but even as a strategy to avoid “Anyone” taking any responsibility for something that “Nobody” should have done.
But lack of accountability does not begin with an enquiry. It begins with government ministers who feel responsible for their portfolio and answerable to the people that they have been elected to represent. It means not making decisions that might align with the interests of the party, but is aligned with the morals and priorities of the people of the country.
Whereas there are numerous examples of the lack of ownership, there is one interesting – and admittedly surprising one – in the alternative: Kgosientsho David “Sputla” Ramokgopa, South African politician who has been appointed the Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity. His appointment was met with rolling eyes by many ( including me), as I could not understand what he would be doing that others had not already been tasked with. The power crises was not a new problem and had been around since 2008.
The portfolio had been “owned” by others and there didn’t seem to be a need to add another layer. And yet, the fact that this was done and that there is now a name associated with it, might be part of the reason that things seem to be improving.
It is clear that the minister feels a significant level of responsibility, and that he is aware that the success or failure of this critical part of South African life, economy and future will be associated with his name. What has followed, is that he is visible, present and communicative.
I do not have enough understanding of the complexities of the electrical grid and can’t know if the reduced amount loadshedding has been as the result of his efforts, or because of the increase in supply from solar and other areas. But the fact that winter was not as gloomy as we anticipated, coupled with the fact that there is a real person who appears to be fighting for this, has made a positive difference.
Or put differently, “Everybody” is counting him addressing a problem that “Nobody” had fixed, even though there was “Somebody” in the role that “Everybody” was dependant on.
What needs to follow is that in each area of leadership and government there needs to be “Somebody” whose name is associated with success or failure of that area. It might sound obvious. But it clearly wasn’t to “Everybody.”