STATEMENT: OUR BEARINGS HAVE COME UNDONE – THE DEATH OF ACCOUNTABLE LEADERSHIP
As we stare into the abyss as a nation the morning after the night before, we are asking ourselves, how can he, why did he, and could he really? A wholesale firing of a quarter of the Cabinet is a monumental act of confidence by the President as leader of SA Inc. Sadly, in this case, the act was not in the name of government or the electorate but driven by the antithesis of accountable leadership. The words of Howard Gardner, author and psychologist, Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership, came to mind as the nation woke up this morning. He describes a leader “as a person who is responsible, trusted, consistent, honest, and faithful. Leadership therefore exemplifies integrity and willingness to make sacrifices for the good of the governed”.
The actions of the President over the last 24 hours belie the very values ascribed to accountable leaders as described above but more painfully, contravene the very moral and ethical basis of the struggle for freedom and democracy in South Africa.
The country has come a long way precisely because of an abundance of ethical and accountable leadership, in the persons of Nelson Mandela and also FW de Klerk, who risked power and reputation to put country first at the dawn of democracy. Said FW de Klerk: “I played an integral part in helping formulating that new vision…that we must abandon apartheid and accept one united South Africa with equal rights for all, with all forms of discrimination to be scrapped from the statute book”. These powerful words attest to a man who sacrificed interest and power that came with the highest office in the land to nurture a democratic future guided by the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
It is with great sadness that the FW de Klerk Foundation has learnt of the passing of Professor Placid Johannes Malesela Kunutu. Professor Kunutu joined the Foundation’s Board of Trustees in 2000, and served faithfully until he retired in 2016, playing a valuable role during his 16-year tenure as Board Member. The Foundation would like to honour him for his role in, and contribution towards, South Africa’s non-racial constitutional democracy. The Foundation would also like to extend their deepest sympathies to Mrs Kunutu and the Kunutu family during this time. 
The killing of 69 unarmed people in Sharpeville, South Africa, protesting apartheid pass laws on 21 March 1960, stirred the conscience of the world and saw the United Nations General Assembly adopt a Resolution to declare the day International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in 1966. ‘Sharpeville Day’ also became the origin for the post-1994 government of South Africa’s Human Rights Day, declared a public holiday.