Beyond the fall of the statues

Wow! What interesting times we live in, in SA. There is always something to wake to in our country & we manage to lap up all of these things enthusiastically. The #Rhodes must fall campaign by the UCT students started another form of debate which is now getting everyone talking and expressing their feelings in all sorts of manner out there. In February we had our eyes set on SONA (state of the nation address) and the drama that came with it. We've heard reports that the public protector, Julius Malema & others are spies and many others that have happened in the space of just 3 months & 15 days.

Focusing on the statues you'll see that this has got everyone talking and has really sparked some sense of unity among SAns even though we differ on the fundamental meaning of these statues. It would be utterly wrong of us to narrowly respond on this issue of statues as just being about statues only. I do believe that there is more to this in that there is an unheard cry rising from the inner soul of SAns seeking for a common goal or cause to fight for. My fear though is that tend to react to these things and when we react to them we address only the symptoms & not the root cause.

In fact in some instances the response can be patronizing & annoying because it simplifies the issues at hand. Look at the Marikana tragedy and how the employers & government said these were just acts of criminality but we ended up with more than 30 people dead at the hands of the government of the people. We just recently played down the statement made by King Zwelithini and now KZN is in anarchy because of what he said. There have always been a cry of unemployed youth in this country and now when we see them channelling their anger however misguided it maybe; they are hurting from something deeper than what they are projecting. The truth is ladies & gentlemen; there is an energy & vigour that lies dormant in the soul of the South African community. What we see as criminality, the militancy in our youth, the rising frustrations on issues of transformation and the attacks on the statues & monuments of this country signifies that there is something brewing in the core of this country. What disadvantages us the most is that we have a leadership that is unable to neither discern nor decipher the moment or the times in which we are in. In fact the discrepancy in leadership is such that we cannot take the courage to lead when we are required to lead. We lead by reaction and even when we do that we simply address the problem at hand with no clue at all as to how we can guide that energy & vigour to our own agenda beyond the present. 

Our people are not simply going out there to destroy & cause anarchy but I hear them crying out for something more. They are yearning for something that will unify us and make us all focus in the one vision that will be the South African vision. If you look back in our recent history you'll see that when we have a common goal, agenda or vision; we rally around that until we see it to the end. The lack of that common goal puts us in this position. I myself long for the vision and the idea of South Africa that will be driven by all and for us all. The Americans call it the "American Dream" and however divided they may be especially with their own issues of racism coming to the fore, they still very much believe in the American dream. This as I understand took a lot of years to build & entrench but in all their fumbling they still believe in the American dream. It's their compass and remains very central in their politics. It is my belief that what is brewing in the South African community is an energy & vigour that needs to be driven towards a cause that is nation building in nature. A cause that will stand beyond the fall of the statues, a dream that will outlive the ruling party. Meaning; even when the ANC is not in power but the cause remains relevant. This should cut across all nationalities, colour lines should not matter but the "South African Dream" must rise above all of these. 

The Freedom Charter in my view encompasses what I would call the South African Dream & it embodies it very well more than the NDP (National Development Plan) but its own handicap is that it is linked to the ANC. That then cripples it but its very core and its foundation shows that we had a leadership that sort to drive an agenda for this country & not like the one where the agenda is hijacked from the people. All we hear from our leaders is that let's debate these things and let us be orderly when we address issues. Look if we think that this is simply about statues, foreigners, service delivery, Nkandla, Cosatu divisions & any other burning issues of the now; we are mistaken. We need a common agenda, a centred focus point we need a SAD (South African Dream). We need leaders who can rally us to that point. The ideal SA is within all of us; it only needs to be inspired & nurtured to be realized. It is often said that we did not heal from the wounds of apartheid & I concur with that 100% but healing will come when we point that pain to a positively uniting factor. Uniting is not a problem for us. A common goal is. 

Work-shopped by Lungelo Madubela