WORLDVIEW: Peter Principle takes no prisoners – SA’s pennies starting to drop

By Alec Hogg.Time is the ultimate amplifier. Effect tough decisions that set the correct course and before long, benefits do accrue. On the other hand, a destructive path may have little immediate impact. But always delivers dire long-term consequences..Business scientists invest considerable attention to this reality. It is the foundation of the time honoured Peter Principle which asserts managers rise to the level of their incompetence. The man after whom it is named, Laurence Peter says this flows from all promotions being based on how well the candidate does their current job – rather than their ability to handle the more elevated position..___STEADY_PAYWALL___.The Peter Principle gets exaggerated in politics where the personal qualities required to get elected are the opposite of what is required to govern well. Add the guarantee of a lengthy term and the potential wrecking ball effect is obvious..For me, Mathews Phosa's powerful prose in yesterday's Sunday Independent delivered one of the most coherent examples of how South Africa is being damaged by a living example of the Peter Principle – its corrupted, innumerate and functionally illiterate President Jacob Zuma..Phosa was one of the early victims of fake news, when a campaign in the late 1990s eliminated him (and Tokyo Sewale) from the Nelson Mandela succession race. But he continued to serve as a loyal ANC member, the passage of time has elevated him to status of "elder". His opinion piece describing the consequences of a Damascene moment which he knows "will land me in the firing line.".The former Mpumalanga Premier's tipping point stemmed from the ANC's reaction to the Esidimini tragedy when Zuma-ally and Presidential hopeful Baleka Mbete "callously, coldly and clinically refused to allow Parliament to bow their heads to show that they feel the pain of the families of the 94 who had died because the government looked the other way.".He added "this clearly illustrated what people are saying in the streets," another message the Zuma Administration refuses to hear. Again, no surprise for business scientists: Beneficiaries of the Peter Principle almost always live in self-justifying bubbles, surrounded by acolytes who apply "good news" filters..The 2017 Edelmans Trust Barometer supports Phosa's assertions. South Africa ranks last in the world with 85% of its citizens saying they do not trust Zuma's regime. But for the incumbent and his cohorts, such results are waved away as fiction created by enemies to effect "regime change"..While he was watching last week's chaotic Opening of Parliament, Phosa says author Alan Paton's words repeated in his head: "Cry the beloved country." I've got a feeling he wasn't the only one on the road to Damascus that day. It can take time for Peter Principle pennies to drop. They always do. Eventually.

WORLDVIEW: Peter Principle takes no prisoners – SA’s pennies starting to drop

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