{"id":1094,"date":"2009-05-31T11:02:07","date_gmt":"2009-05-31T09:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filosofille.wordpress.com\/?p=138"},"modified":"2026-05-12T09:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T08:13:13","slug":"qa-14-may-09-the-first-priority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/qa-14-may-09-the-first-priority\/","title":{"rendered":"QA 14. (May 09) The first priority"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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What should be the single priority for the new South African government? In his Sunday Times column<\/a> (3 May 2009), Mac Maharaj invited readers to answer this question, following Peter Bruce\u2019s observation that a government that tries to fix everything achieves nothing. \u201cLet us\u2026 find some common purpose, which is the first step to success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But because any choice refers to a prior and more fundamental commitment \u2013 to the criteria by which we choose \u2013 it seems to me that clarity<\/em> of purpose is at least as necessary as common purpose. What we believe the government\u2019s priority should be depends on how we understand its purpose, and this in turn will shape the way it functions and is evaluated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

So here\u2019s my response: the top priority for the new government, and all who sail in her, should be to keep one question in mind from the time they get up in the morning until the time they go to bed: what is the fundamental purpose of our government here and now \u2013 and what is my role within it?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not an abstract or technical question but an ethical one, whose shifting answer will always be reflected in the way we live. And it seems to me that present social conditions indicate an insufficient clarity of purpose in previous governments that has led to contradictory policies and administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t believe the fundamental purpose of South Africa\u2019s democratic government is to advance the interests of any group over another. I don\u2019t think it exists to create personal fiefdoms for politicians and officials, nor to serve narrow private interests above the public good \u2013 although, clearly, there are many throughout the public and private sectors who believe differently. But none of these foundations could have motivated the broad social benefits that have been created since 1994. None can account for our aspirations and the decency of our democracy, which we witnessed again on voting day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So let me whisper another possibility, one whose reflection can also be seen in the way we live: the purpose of this government, in this moment of South Africa\u2019s democracy, is to respect and restore the dignity of people<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dignity cannot directly be the state\u2019s business; it\u2019s not a technical, quantifiable matter. Our neighbours\u2019 dignity is the responsibility of each one of us, and the state can\u2019t take that over. But what our government can and should do \u2013 because this is the ethical origin of its power \u2013 is to put in place the conditions for a dignified life: work, health, shelter, education and the rest of it. This is the fundamental purpose that consequently calls for political choices, statecraft and the practical matters of governance. But getting these elements right must refer back to the quality of people\u2019s lives. There is evidence that state services are more effective when \u201cco-produced\u201d with communities than simply \u201cdelivered\u201d, but prior to this effectiveness is the dignity of people who are able to make meaningful decisions about their own lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What should be the single priority for the new South African government? In his Sunday Times column (3 May 2009), Mac Maharaj invited readers to answer this question, following Peter Bruce\u2019s observation that a government that tries to fix everything…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[134,128,205,206,207,19,11],"class_list":["post-1094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-everyday-philosophy","tag-dignity","tag-ethics","tag-government","tag-jacob-zuma","tag-mac-maharaj","tag-politics","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1094"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2372,"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094\/revisions\/2372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}