Since I have never met Zwelinzima Vavi and do not know what morality he ascribes to, the outcry as to his admitted affair caused me to consider what personifies a current interpretation of South African morality. When more than 15 000 people are murdered annually, when a women or child is raped and abused every minute can we consider our society moral? Can a society that has more than 2 million problem drinkers and 250 000 drug addicts be measured as moral?
Whatever the answer maybe, I wonder on what basis is Vavi hounded. If his demise is politically arranged, is it relevant when compared to the horror that locals witness every day. Since Vavi cheated on his wife, does this make him a bad unionist or reduce his valued stance against state and private corruption. Is there a correlation between Vavi’s carnal behaviour and his ability to oppose dishonesty? Does his disloyalty to his wife suggest that society cannot trust him as a political leader?
Also, how many other leading South Africans are currently engaged in affairs? Similarly how many unmarried people have several sexual partners whom they have no plans to marry? Since we live in a society where gay marriages are legal what constitutional or whose moral law did Vavi break?
Where is the outcry from the liberals and the secularists who always harp on the separation of religion and state? Why did they not speak out since adultery is actually a religious and moral crime? Is Vavi being exposed as he endorses the hidden cultural opinion that African men are innately immoral?
In a society that confuses freedom with hedonism and where religion is under perpetual attack, how is the youth to define morality? If the assault against Vavi is not based on Abrahamic morality – Jewish, Christian, Islamic values then what moral code should be ascribed to his case? When an Archbishop queries the concept of a homophobic God, how does one define Biblical morality? In a world where millions are compelled to suffer because of a few, why the mania with the escapades of an individual?
Some time ago, Max Lennit was removed as MEC for Safety and Security in this Province ostensibly because of an affair. As a former high ranking police man he was more than qualified to do the job. How did firing Lennit Max benefit taxpayers since those who followed are clearly unable to manage?
Similarly on November 9, 2012, General Petraeus resigned as Director of the CIA, citing an affair that was discovered via an FBI investigation. Since then, Petraeus previously one of the most decorated US soldiers has been globally disgraced. Considering that General Petraeus led several clandestine structures that operated illegal and secret wars on several countries, I considered his carnal conduct fairly peripheral. Ironically his ability to kill and inflict suffering on millions of innocent people was ignored yet his illicit affair was of global interest.
The global media also spend vast resources analysing every detail of Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky. People forgot his sanctions and illegal bombing of Iran, Iraq, Somalia and Sudan that left millions dead and suffering? What kind of world do we live in, when a man sanctions the mass murder of millions but is disgraced by an affair? By what definition of morality are these decisions made?
Cllr Yagyah Adams
Cape Muslim Congress