ANC'S IRRATIONAL POLITICAL APPOINTMENTS: COGNITIVE DEFICIENCY - YES AND NO

A High Court recently ruled in favour of The Helen Suzman Foundation and Freedom under Law's application to declare Berning Ntlemeza's appointment as head of the Hawks irrational and unlawful. It is one further example of an epidemic of irrational appointments by public officials.  Irrational decision-making infects every level of the ANC government - the crown jewel of irrationality being the firing Nene and Gordhan by Zuma.

It would be a simple matter to posit that the prevalence of irrationality within the ANC is due to cognitive deficiency.   This may be so, but the phenomenon has its genesis in the country's educational system that mindlessly regurgitates  useless information.  It is a system devoid of critical thinking , which if implemented, would transform mindlessness into well-reasoned rational decision-making.

In the absence of rational decision-making the judiciary must step into the breach and review arbitrary and irrational executive actions, failing which political patronage, cronyism and corrupt practices will continue to erode South Africa's constitutional fabric.