A North-West University (NWU) academic says he hopes his new book on South Africa’s moral compass will open up a vigorous social debate that could unleash deep interest among willing role players to bring back hope and morality to our young democracy.

Prof Koos Vorster is part of the Reformed Theology and the Development of the South African Society research unit which deals with the moral development of the South African society.

“It struck me that the hope which sprang up in 1994 with the new democracy has faded in the last decade and been replaced by despondency and despair in the South African community,” observes Prof Vorster.

Among the glaring failures of post-democracy South Africa, he says, are the neglect of the poor and lack of respect for the human dignity of women. In addition, those who are disgruntled resort to violence to solve problems. There is widespread criminality, disruption of family structures, poor leadership, lack of moral intervention by the community and civil society, along with many other pressing problems.

Prof Voster’s book – Finding a moral compass for South Africa: Where are we? Where could we go? - is an open-access publication by AOSIS Scholarly Books and may be downloaded free of charge here.

This eye-opening book focuses on the historical reasons for the lack of a moral compass in South Africa, while also looking at the present and addressing the various problematic issues. The aim is to design a moral compass from a Christian and global ethical perspective.

Prof Koos Vorster says he hopes his book will ignite debate and forge a path forward to design a moral compass for the country.

Prof Voster’s book is titled Finding a moral compass for South Africa: Where are we? Where could we go?