A recent discussion with a friend over the lawless driving behaviour of drivers on our roads, particularly those of minibus taxis made me realise that the lack of consequences for their actions has emboldened them to ramp up their recklessness dramatically over the years.
It further occurred to me that the total lack of consequence management across all strata of our society is perhaps the greatest contributor to the ills facing us as nation.
At the level of the state, the exponential increase in the number and scale of corrupt activities perpetrated by government officials across all spheres has undoubtedly been enabled by the pitiful attempts to bring the culprits to book.
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It is common cause that implicated officials often resign their posts, avoiding inquisitorial processes, or languish at home for years on full pay while their disciplinary processes are stymied, effectively giving them a double bonus for their crooked actions.
To add insult to injury, it is not uncommon for these culprits to pop up in new (more senior) positions in another department or state owned entity (SOE), ready to dip their sticky fingers into the honey pot again.
Even when no outright corrupt activity is involved, rank non-performance is rarely addressed, leading to a downward spiral in service delivery. There are of course real consequences for the ‘victims’, think for example of service providers who are deprived of payment for services rendered to government by the incompetence or negligence of officials.
Of course, political parties are often in the forefront of unbecoming behaviour that goes unpunished. It was astounding to read that the ruling party had admitted collecting pension fund deductions and salary taxes from employees and not paid them over to SARS or their pension fund company for many years.
These are overtly criminal acts, but absolutely nothing has been heard from SARS, or law enforcement agencies in this respect.
Civil society has taken their lead from the state, with thousands drawing on social grants and other state benefits when they are not entitled to. Recently it was reported that over 5000 state employees fraudulently received the R350 social relief grants, costing the country R5,8m.
Only 282 cases were being investigated. History will dictate that the other 4700 odd will get away scot-free. Consequence management, judiciously executed need not be punitive in all instances.
Properly applied, it can lead to positive outcomes by correcting aberrant behaviours or actions: think back to how effectively consequence management was used by your parents when you were growing up….no dessert if you didn’t finish your vegetables for example.
It is the almost universal absence of consequence management across all levels of government and civil society that finds this country in the parlous state it is in.
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