Defend Truth

Opinionista

Taking back the power of the people

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Andrew Ihsaan Gasnolar was born in Cape Town and raised by his determined mother, grandparents, aunt and the rest of his maternal family. He is an admitted attorney (formerly of the corporate hue), with recent exposure in the public sector, and is currently working on transport and infrastructure projects. He is a Mandela Washington Fellow, a Mandela Rhodes Scholar, and a WEF Global Shaper. He had a brief stint in the contemporary party politic environment working for Mamphela Ramphele as Agang CEO and chief-of-staff; he found the experience a deeply educational one.

The days before democracy allowed for the messy, it allowed for the uncontrolled, it allowed for the unpredictable. The movement that opposed Apartheid was a momentous opportunity for change directed by the people of South Africa. There was a sense of unity. We were able to mount a persistent opposition to that repressive system.

Our movement, and it was our movement, was steadfast, righteous, persistent but also organic even when we were trying to drive the energies of many to achieve the ultimate goal of toppling Apartheid. We succeeded. We owned the victory when millions lined up proudly to vote. We knew that we had reason to lift our heads to the heavens for we had done the impossible.

Today, there is a great deal of structure and rules. We are required to follow particular channels in order to achieve the change we want to see. This concept is foreign, it is also slow, and perhaps red tape or due process has weakened our resolve and complicated the way we can effect change.

Now, patronage seems carries a greater amount of influence than our voices or the voices of truth. We are burdened by the fact that often our elected figures are unable to do what we require.

In part, we checked out when our democracy had been secured. We opted to return to our ‘normal’ lives and leave the governing to elected officials. The decisions and the hard work were left to our political leaders and the system.

It is time again that we remind our elected leaders that we are not in need of bravado, or big speeches or big men or women but rather a persistent approach to changing the South African landscape.

The time is ripe for us to invest our energies into the institutions of this democracy. We require a concerted effort to stabilise and bolster the institutions that are the lifeblood of this democracy.

We must shy away from the temptation of big men or big women – larger than life personalities are not going to be our salvation. This is the struggle that each of us must take up with greater urgency.

But there is still big work to be done before we are able to put all our attention and energy into strengthening our democracy. The conversations and discussions will be emotional, heated and often polarised but these are conversations we must have.

A free and democratic South Africa did not simply materialise but rather it was through our persistent and concerted efforts that the freedoms we now enjoy are part (although not completely) of South African society. We still have a very long road ahead, many hills and paths to transverse in order to entrench those values in our society.

Early this year, Daily Maverick’s Rebecca Davis wrote about the Victoria Mxenge women and how their persistent and collective efforts went from building a show house in 1996 to over 5,000 homes. These women did not focus on the feeling of being overwhelmed but rather they focused on what they could do. We must take comfort from South Africans like this; we must begin to replicate their efforts.

Today, we look at the University of Cape Town students, who have struggled with the idea of transformation and how many black South Africans are confronted with the normative culture of privilege that continues to exist.

I am reassured by the purposeful and persistent engagement of these students. They are driving their agenda collectively, and they appear not to have an overarching singular idea. They are not only focused on removing the Rhodes statue but rather there on a multitude of ideas they are working towards. They are dynamic, they are galvanised by the idea that they too are powerful and that the shaping of their institution is possible through their collective efforts. This is a revolutionary idea, which we have seen in the Victoria Mxenge women and elsewhere by dynamic South Africans.

The transformation discussion is messy. Importantly, the discussions by these UCT students are not based on a one-size-fits-all approach but about calling for change while giving each other the space to speak.

As a nation we are struggling to find ourselves but we must not lose faith. The calls to remove the statue should not be the only thing we focus on. This call for change is not being led by one leader or directed by a single message but rather it is organically playing out.

There will of course be attempts by some to try and take control of it. The temptation of expediency may creep in but the resolve of these students, and other South Africans, who are crafting a different way, must remain steadfast. We must encourage them and others across this country to fight against the ease of falling victim to patronage and the status quo.

We owe it to those who have come before us to ensure that this sort of leadership flourishes. We can lead. The fight for this freedom came at a heavy price. We must remember people like Ashley Kriel were taken from us at too young an age. What we are seeing are young South Africans like the late Kriel, who are willing to transcend political affiliations, class, creed and colour to forge ahead with an agenda that is not singular in content but is united in the belief that change must come.

We have a real opportunity to once again persistently and collectively bring change. We are capable of the change that embraces the idea that we don’t require one leader or only one voice. We deserve change that embraces the multitude of diversity. We are capable of change that acknowledges the possibilities instead of being bogged down by polarised, pessimistic or party political views.

I leave you with these words from Martin Luther King Jr as we consider the change we want to bring:

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that.” DM

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