South Africa’s reconciliation process across colour, between different communities, between apartheid-era institutions, individuals and communities and within individuals, has stalled.
What kind of reconciliation are we talking about? Sadly, reconciliation is often discussed in one-dimensional terms, often with suggestions that a “one silver bullet” solution is all that is needed for reconciliation. For example, many say that “if we (previously disadvantaged communities) get the land back”, reconciliation will take place.
Reconciliation is more complex and nuanced, and requires more imaginative measures. South Africa, after its long period of colonialism, apartheid and communal conflict, needs to foster reconciliation on many levels.
The first is reconciliation between previously advantaged communities, the white community, and previously disadvantaged communities. The second layer of reconciliation is among and within previously disadvantaged communities themselves. Many disadvantaged communities were in conflict with each other.
The third layer of reconciliation is between the non-state key institutions of colonialism and apartheid – the enforcers, whether business, agriculture, schools, sport or professional organisations.
But fourth, previously disadvantaged communities must also reconcile with themselves at the collective and individual levels. This necessitates a mass healing process at those levels to break the cycles of generational trauma left in the psyche, bodies and thinking of previously oppressed communities by apartheid and colonialism.
But white South Africans will also have to undergo their own processes of healing, individually and collectively – not guilt-tripping, but to understand the deep legacy of colonialism and apartheid which still shapes racial relations.
The good thing is that Nelson Mandela and his generation bequeathed us the constitutional framework, the toolkit and the space to foster reconciliation. However, the post-Mandela leadership generation has largely failed to use the space to forge reconciliation with imagination, sensible policies, innovative ideas and compassion.
Effective reconciliation cannot take place without a constitutional framework, rule of law, nonviolence, acceptance of our differences, and honesty. Sadly, the very framework, the Constitution, according to which reconciliation should take place has repeatedly, deliberately and ignorantly been undermined, including by elected and public officials.
South Africa’s Constitution, which clearly sets out how reconciliation should take place, has been consistently undermined by not only post-Mandela ANC leaders, but also populist opposition and groups and extra-parliamentary groups.
Another key requirement for reconciliation, diversity – a fundamental element of our national identity – has also been rejected by many political groups. Some individuals and groups mistakenly believe that, if only if their colour, racial or ideological group took control of South Africa, they would somehow force through their policies, ideas and ideologies, and magically solve all the country’s complex problems. This is, of course, a recipe for the total collapse of the country.
An effective state to deliver quality public services to all communities is critical to reconciliation, because delivering and redistributing public services to previously excluded communities is critical to reconciliation. However, the ANC’s deployment of its cadres, without relevant skills, its tolerance of corruption in the public service, state-owned enterprises (SOEs)and public procurement, and insistence on outdated ideological policies, have not only knocked public services, but also jettisoned equitable economic development, the creation of mass employment and opportunities for previously disadvantaged communities.
The ANC has further undermined South Africa’s diversity through cadre deployment, by often predominantly appointing people of one colour or ethnic group in the provinces and municipalities they run, as well as in state agencies and SOEs.
South Africa is a multi-ethnic, multicolour and multireligious society. It must therefore be governed as a multi-ethnic society, not as a black society, with minorities as add-ons, as has been the case under the ANC government.
Many multi-ethnic, post-colonial African societies, such as Zimbabwe and Namibia, has been governed not as multi-ethnic societies, but as black societies, with minorities as add-ons. This is one of the key reasons for development failure in these societies. In contrast, the world’s most developmentally successful post-colonial society, Singapore, has been governed as a multi-ethnic society, not one dominated by one group, with others as add-ons. That is one of the reasons for its spectacular economic success.
The astonishing level of corruption in the ANC and the state have deeply undermined reconciliation. Sadly, that high level has been seen by many previously advantaged communities as a moral leveller in relation to apartheid – the (wrong) argument that because the current “black” government has been so corrupt, it cleans the moral wrong of apartheid.
The ANC’s version of black economic empowerment has enriched a few ANC-connected individuals, companies and trusts, white companies who have partnered with them, and predominantly white financial deal-makers. The ANC’s version of BEE has made an elite group of blacks super-rich, not because of merit, but because of their connection to the ANC.
It has increased inequality between rich blacks and poor blacks – which has also undermined the reconciliation process. In the past, we saw inequality between black and white. Now we see inequality between whites and rich blacks and poor blacks.
“Empowerment” has increasingly been seen by non-state apartheid legacy institutions – whether businesses, professional, sport or cultural – as accepting the appointments of ANC cadres into senior positions at these institutions or giving them BEE partnerships and contracts.
Reconciliation cannot take place without the rule of law. However, the ANC has allowed the rule of law to collapse. The collapse started when ANC leaders, believed because of their struggle credentials or simply because they are leaders, were exempted from the laws or rules of society. At the same time, voters excuse political leaders who are corrupt, contravene the law and are violent and lawless, just because of their ANC credentials, or because they are black, as a form of black solidarity.
Reconciliation is a difficult, complex process without ready-made answers. It therefore demands honesty from the governing leaders. Sadly, the ANC has often used demands for reconciliation for opportunistic, self-interest and self-enrichment reasons, not genuinely to empower all of South Africa.
Most of South Africa’s populist-left politicians, such as in the EFF and MK party, have also weaponised the apartheid-era divisions to secure power, and taxpayer-funded meal tickets.
Hundreds of years of colonialism and apartheid left previously disadvantaged communities with a broken sense of self, of family and of community. They left many without any individual agency, which is so crucial for individual and collective development.
The black ANC’s misgovernance, corruption and enrichment of a connected few has increased the alienation and hopelessness of previously disadvantaged communities who have been left marginalised – and made it very difficult for these vulnerable communities to accept reconciliation with previously advantaged communities, or with previously disadvantaged communities they have been in conflict with, in the past.
Without accountability from elected and public officials, effective reconciliation cannot take place. Lack of accountability has been at the heart of the exploding corruption, state failure and lawlessness South Africa is experiencing.
Citizens voting for leaders and parties based on colour, past struggle solidarity and love of their singing of Struggle songs, even if these leaders are corrupt, violent and incompetent, undermine accountability. Accountability gives governments and leaders the moral credibility to believably marshal opposing groups towards reconciliation.
How can the reconciliation process be reinvigorated?
Without accountability, government and leaders may have state power, but they do not have the credibility or moral authority needed to mobilise divided groups into reconciling. Previously disadvantaged communities must not vote for leaders just because they share the same ethnicity, colour and “Struggle” past, even if these leaders are violent, corrupt, dishonest and incompetent, and weaponise past historical divisions.
The Constitution must become the supreme framework for reconciliation. All other governance frameworks, whether “customary law”, the ANC’s party “law” or gangster “law”, must be rejected. We should stop talking about mythical so-called African law to replace the Constitution, which is certainly among the best set of “African laws” put together since Liberia became the first African country to become independent in 1847.
The rule of law has to be restored. Corruption in the ANC and the state has to be genuinely tackled. For this to happen, ANC leaders and associates, who do wrong, must be prosecuted like ordinary citizens, rather then being exempt from rules because they are ANC leaders.
ANC or opposition politicians who advocate violence to resolve political or policy issues will have to be prosecuted to send a signal that violence is anathema to reconciliation. Elected officials using violence to force through their views, must be heavily punished by Parliament or councils.
The colonial and apartheid state was a key instrument of oppression of disadvantaged communities. The colonial and apartheid state did not deliver services to previously disadvantaged communities, but treated them with disdain and without care.
The state is a critical instrument for reconciliation through delivering effective public services and infrastructure to previously disadvantaged communities. State and infrastructure failure undermines reconciliation. It is critical that corruption, incompetence and mismanagement of the public services and SOEs are dealt with.
The continuing treatment by managers of public services and SOEs, which are now run and mostly staffed by people from disadvantaged communities, of the previously disadvantaged communities they serve, with disdain and lack of care, continues the colonial and apartheid state treatment of previously disadvantaged communities, this time under a government run by previously disadvantaged communities.
Ordinary citizens, civil society organisations must hold the public service, SOEs and agencies accountable by protesting against officials responsible for corruption, poor delivery and mismanagement, by acting against the deployment of incompetent, corrupt deployed ANC cadres and holding officials personally liable for failures.
There has to be a mass programme of healing, to provide mass psychological treatment at the individual and communal levels, to heal and restore the sense of self and individual agency of previously disadvantaged individuals.
The current model of BEE, which empowers a small elite of politically connected deal facilitators and middlemen and women, has been a lost opportunity for legacy business to provide reparations for the past. Repivoting BEE must include giving shares in companies to current and past employees from disadvantaged communities and their families.
Former employees from disadvantaged communities who lost out on benefits during the apartheid era should be given priority in getting shareholding as BEE beneficiaries. Legacy businesses must also prioritise the support of small and medium-sized black business and social enterprises, to secure finance for them, provide them education and get them into their supply chains.
Local communities surrounding mines and factories must be offered shares in legacy companies, that is, companies that existed before 1994. Such communities could form social enterprises where each community member has a share. These social enterprises would then become the BEE shareholders in these white-owned companies.
Companies must also provide housing, funding for education and health insurance to their employees. Companies must also provide industrially relevant vocational and technical training to both current and former employees and their families.
Companies must compensate former employees or their surviving families’ for outstanding employee contributions, which were not given during apartheid. Many black employees died or suffered disability from illnesses such as tuberculosis and asbestosis, or through work accidents, but they or their family were never compensated. Companies still affected must compensate their former black employees who were affected by these.
One of the ultimate measures of success of reconciliation is when, as a nation, we can forge substantial levels of compassion for each other across race, colour, religion and class – and if such compassion becomes an integral part of a common South African identity.
Finally, for reconciliation, at whatever level, victims do not necessary require forgiving perpetrators, neither is it a requirement for victims to secure an apology from perpetrators, for reconciliation. DM
William Gumede is the founder of the Democracy Works Foundation and author of Restless Nation: Making Sense of Troubled Times (Tafelberg).