Defend Truth

Opinionista

(Not) alive with possibility, but it’s time to fight for South Africa

mm

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.

South Africa is not simply a country of broken men and women. It is a country where the system seems to be unravelling and this affects those who can least afford to suffer.

We are living within a system where the leaders elected to serve and protect citizens and the Constitution are driven by self-interest and personal ambition. This is not simply about broken men or women but rather about the fact that in many ways we have allowed a broken society to take root in South Africa. We have allowed this to happen and we are beginning to not only lose faith and trust in these broken men and women but also in the system itself.

There are a series of compromises and presumptions that we have about our constitutional democracy and we trust these assumptions and foundations to hold the centre. We rely on those inalienable presumptions to keep our nation together but we are required in these confusing times to put our shoulder to the wheel.

This time of uninspired and rudderless leadership demands that we stand up boldly for what we believe is right. We must fight for the democracy we all deserve. We can no longer carry on in our own respective silos and believe that the status quo is simply something we should accept.

Today we are a country not led by our leaders; rather, their imperfections and flaws weigh us down. We must never forget that South Africa is a vibrant place and the citizens of this country are generous, resilient and patient.

This does not make us exceptional but it does give us the space in which we can be our best selves. Instead, we are bogged down by the spooks, by the imperfections of the incumbent leadership, an economy that refuses to grow (equitably or otherwise), a sovereign credit rating near junk status and an entire system that is still unable to confront the growing anger, resentment, inequality and suffering of so many.

This is not the South Africa that we deserve.

This is not the country that is alive with possibility but rather this is the country where our leaders opt to hold social media ‘town hall meetings’ (in a very American way) or cook with their Le Creuset pots, or sit ringside of a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, and even worse, abuse public resources to serve a particular agenda.

This system does not try to bring about our better selves or aspire to greatness.

The problems we face are not insurmountable but they do require some imagination, ethical and responsive leadership, careful thought and a commitment to a long-term vision.

The National Development Plan (NDP) was designed to provide this long-term agenda much as other countries have done before such as Switzerland, Singapore and Rwanda. These countries were able to chart a particular developmental agenda in order to build nations of the future, done in the realisation that the world was changing and was going to do them no favours.

A long-term vision for South Africa is sorely needed, the NDP may reflect one such vision but our leaders are too busy tweeting, attending to their fire-pools or frying bacon in their Le Creuset pans to bother about seeing that long-term vision become reality.

There is a great deal about to be overwhelmed by, as we are a country that moves from one crisis to another. It seems the democratic institutions are compromised and that our society is violently turning in on itself. We only need to look at the recent xenophobic attacks or the series of so-called ‘service delivery’ protests to understand that we are really a nation in crisis.

Twenty-one years into our democracy, we are struggling to articulate our sense of nationhood. We are confronted by the imperfections of those required to lead us but we must begin to confront our own agency and drive the agenda. South Africa is not a country that is falling apart but rather a country with various issues, which we can turn into opportunities to drive a more equitable, just and inclusive path.

We must use these opportunities whether they are Nkandla, inequality, #RhodesMustFall, #OpenStellenbosch, the state of our democratic institutions and our elections as opportunities to redefine and shape our future. We must not simply sit around and wait for guidance or inspiration. We must not turn in on ourselves in frustration but we must direct that pendulum of anger in order to shift the arc of our trajectory as a nation. South Africa has a role to play on the continent and we must begin at home by confronting inequality, crime, corruption, a lack of sound leadership and poverty with renewed vigour and strength.

Recently, the South African Institute of Race Relations (the IRR) issued a report on the state of South Africa’s so-called born-free or post-Apartheid generation entitled Born Free but Still in Chains. The title of the report is quite alarming but the crux of the report is that we are indeed in a conundrum and at the proverbial crossroads.

The IRR report highlights the fact that those born in or after 1990 number “27 million and constitute half the country’s population” yet the unemployment rate within this demographic of born frees is 67% for males and 75% for females.

The IRR report goes on to list a series of other concerning figures and facts varying from the number of born frees requiring antiretroviral treatments to those in prison at any given time. However, the it also sheds light that born frees, aged between 15 and 24, are running 74,000 micro-businesses across South Africa.

We cannot afford to fail our democratic mission, we cannot let down those who sacrificed so much in order for us to enjoy this democracy, and mostly we cannot let hope die. There is too much at risk.

We cannot fail each other and we must take up this cause with much eagerness, vigour and strength if we are to truly serve the democratic ideals that so many fought for an died.

The sacrifices endured by South Africans were not only admirable but, as Tata Madiba said, “… it is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die”.

Let us fight once more. DM

Gallery

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

Every seed of hope will one day sprout.

South African citizens throughout the country are standing up for our human rights. Stay informed, connected and inspired by our weekly FREE Maverick Citizen newsletter.