From pride to public shaming: The fall of public service

I remember a time when most of us wanted to be public servants. Maybe we didn’t have options or those who did the work did it with such passion that the work seemed to have a sense of dignity.

Those who were civil servants were regarded in high esteem. One would proudly say: “My mom is a teacher.”

I remember a time when many of us wanted to be teachers, nurses, police officers or even join the army. But there was a time when being a public servant required one to possess a quality that today is missing – you had to have a sense of pride.

Allegations of nurses who exchanged insults with patients, government employees who take extended tea breaks, teachers who sleep with their pupils and police officers who victimise the same communities that they are meant to protect and serve leave one shattered.

To go anywhere and the person who is tasked with helping you is on a mission to test the longevity of their chewing gum or the security guard has upgraded their own employment status to become the chief admin clerk.

ALSO READ: South African greed outshines patriotism

We all begin to wish we could apply for marriage licences and driving licences online, just to avoid the human interaction.

In a time where social media platforms are the new ombud, one would think public servants would shape up. It seems the new input is attendance and the output is… yes, you guessed it, a salary.

Forget about job satisfaction. But do children still aspire to teach, nurse and to serve the communities? Could the rotten apples have already spoiled the plantation? Are we too far gone?

We live in the digital age, one that is accessible to anyone with a smartphone and data.

One can either become a media sensation, be it that they become popular for good deeds or for notorious activities. The list is endless of social media darlings… people we would never know or have heard of – if it was not for the share and like buttons on our timelines.

ALSO READ: Time to fix broken families

The last thing anyone in any situation wants is for the social media limelight to turn on them… social media has become the new barometer of how successful one’s public career can be. Hell hath no fury than angry social media followers.

Whatever you do, do not upset the followers, they will end your career in a series of posts.

But here we are, an important hospital needing to be put on blast about service undelivered, by means of social media.

This means that something is very badly broken and it needs to be fixed some other way that still affords dignity to the patients.