Office After Hours!!!

Let me throw a little scenario at you all. So it goes like this:

Me: “Mirror, Mirror on the wall…should I sleep my way right to the TOP?!”

Mirror: “No, no, nooo darling! Why would you want to degrade yourself in such a manner? Don’t do it, because it’s so not worth it!”

Me: “You’re right. Best I work my way to the top through old school hardwork, dedication with a touch of blood, sweat and tears!”

Mirror: “That’s it Nkay!”

Me: “Merci amour”

We’re all too familiar with the phrase or saying, ‘she slept her way to the top’. But I’m not here to dish up on the latest office gossip of the next victim’s dirty laundry I’m about to air but tell you of a rumour. But, a scandalous sex rumour. So rumour has it that Cosatu General Secretary, Zwelimzima Vavi, had admitted to having sexual relations with one of his colleagues. Oh wait, technical it isn’t a rumour but the actual truth. Thus, bringing us back to that familiar scenario of political leaders being caught once again with their pants DOWN!

When news broke of Vavi’s office indiscretion, one raises the questions of whether all our South African leaders think with their phalluses or perhaps the grey matter situated within their cranium. Though such indiscretions aren’t news or trends of yesterday, but has been prevalent within the political sphere. So the question at hand is what, when, where, why and how was this entire instigated. The following is a snipet of an article written by Ranjeni Munusamy.  

While Zuma survived the rape charge and rode the crest of the wave to fight off the corruption charges, won the presidency of the ANC and eventually became state president, it remains to be seen what Vavi’s game plan is.

He appears before a Cosatu inquiry on Monday to respond to the rape allegation. It is not clear as to the procedure the federation will employ to decide the matter or how long this will take. While Vavi has already declared that he plans to fight to keep his position in Cosatu, he could very well be asked to step aside or suspended while the matter is being investigated. While with the allegations of financial impropriety he was able to continue his job, it might be more difficult for him to continue to do so now considering that the accuser is employed in the same building.

Vavi’s supporters are arguing that he should be considered innocent until proven guilty but his detractors say he is already too compromised by engaging in sexual relations with an employee over whom he exercises power and should therefore step down from his position.

The situation is made even more difficult considering that Cosatu is not a court of law and does not have the ability to assess the evidence in a rape case. However, the complaint is lodged only with the federation so the merits cannot be decided by an independent and credible legal body.

Mde says Cosatu could find Vavi’s conduct with an employee to be inappropriate and that he misused his power. “This could be the smoking gun Vavi’s detractors have been looking for unsuccessfully up till now. If the internal process finds that he sexually exploited a subordinate, they could separate him from his position.

“This is the most disappointing aspect for those who support Vavi, that he put himself in that position. It is almost suicidal,” Mde said.

Why Vavi succumbed to his sexual desires at a time he is so politically vulnerable will remain beyond comprehension. But he is one of many politicians in South Africa and around the world whose sexual misconduct led to their fall from grace. Many have been able to shake off the scandals and resurrect their political careers but many others have not.

Mde says this is not an extraordinary phenomenon as men in positions of power tend to behave badly without consideration of the consequences. “They use their positions to gain sexual gratification from star-struck younger women impressed by the power. Most happen behind the scenes and never come out. But now and again the veil is lifted on the sordid world of power and sex.

“Powerful men sometimes confuse women’s willingness to serve them with servicing them. Sometimes it is like that but not always,” Mde said.

Thus it has been said that one should never mix business with pleasure as it is a deadly concoction for one’s reputable and professional stature within any working environment. It does not only apply to one’s professional and reputable stature but to that of the field of ethics. Ethics doesn’t merely illustrate the wrongs from rights but ensures that an organisations or individual’s reputation is withheld with the upmost respect and integrity by the employees representing the organisation or the individual themselves.

Therefore, Vavi’s behaviour was unsuitable as it discredits Cosatu as an organisation that is worthy of representing the thousands of its members. It also tarnishes the organisation’s reputation. And as a married man, it makes it difficult to trust him if he betrayed his own wife and family. So in mere plain English, what he did is WRONG!

Therefore as an ordinary South African citizen, how am I expected to place trust or loyalty on a leader to lead me in the right direction when they themselves have an immoral bone within them? Not that I’m placing judge upon Vavi but as a leader you need to realise that you not just representing yourself but everyone that is led by you.   

Sources consulted

·         Rossouw, D; van Vuuren, L. 2010. Business Ethics. 4th ed. Cape Town: Oxford University Press Southern Africa

·         Daily Maverick. 2013. Vavi and the perilous cocktail of politics, sex and conspiracy [O] Available at: http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-07-29-vavi-and-the-perilous-cocktail-of-politics-sex-and-conspiracy/ Accesed on 15 August 2013