Politicians are facing a major crisis

Every so often it happens that an entire profession goes through a rough patch. Half-a-decade ago it was professional cycling.

Horror stories of doping en masse, seemingly administered by team doctors and sanctioned by team bosses cast a dark cloud over the profession.

The climax was when golden boy Lance Armstrong admitted to cheating while raking in seven Tour de France titles and hundreds of millions of dollars.

The US Anti-Doping Agency’s investigation at the time named him as the ringleader of “the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen”.

Another example is the financial crisis that led to a wordwide recession in 2009. The US subprime mortgage crisis dropped the world into a financial nightmare from which some countries are still trying to recover.

Although there were many causes of the crisis, with financial institutions, regulators, credit agencies, government housing policies and consumers being fingered, it was mostly banks across the globe who were blamed for ignoring the danger signs in their quest to maximise profits.

In both the cycling and banking crises, it was regulators and leaders from within the two professions who took responsibility to clean up the mess.

Currently, it seems that politicians are the ones facing a major crisis. Worldwide the trend of rogue politicians seems to be escalating. Donald Trump from the US, Rodrigo Duterte from the Philippines, Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and our own JZ spring to mind.

All four are at this stage of their careers still classified as politicians, not dictators, having been voted in. But that they are not living up to the mandate is undeniable.

Eventually politics will be cleaned up – at least in South Africa. Just like in cycling and the financial sector, upstanding political leaders – backed by regulators and voters – will rise to the occasion and clean up the mess.

But unfortunately the damage done by the golden boys of politics will linger for decades, just like the effects of the financial crisis. And that, we will have to live with.

Danie Toerien