There it seems is a new phrase circulating, which holds a sense of foreboding, uncertainty and to a degree, fear.
I am talking about the tipping point.
Sociologist Malcolm Gladwell coined the phrase “The Tipping Point”, in his attempt to explain how a body which exists for so long in a seemingly stable environment can rapidly, and without warning, change into an unrecognisable state of existence.
Gladwell argues that in such a case of sudden and accelerated change, the body was in fact not stable but rather balancing on a “tipping point” awaiting the slightest alteration in its environment to tip it over to where the momentum for change becomes unstoppable.
If one then applies this theory to South Africa and therefore saying that this country is on a tipping point, you will then have to say that things back home are certainly not stable.
And if not stable, then a democratic country can unravel very quickly.
The question thus remains in the middle of 2018: Is SA’s prospects of hope merely an illusion, as we are merely waiting for some change in the environment to expose the country’s instability?
Apparently, the rich and the skilled continue to leave our shores for greener pastures, as they are aware of such a tipping point.
There has been a lot of talk of late, once again, of South Africa becoming another Zimbabwe in the wake of land expropriation.
Some will say never, judging by the judicial system, fiscal policies and free press, but Zimbabwe self-destructed when that country traded the supremacy of the law for short-term economic expediency.
This is after all exactly what is happening now in South Africa. The Constitution is under dire threat, and therefore the stability of life because President Cyril Ramaphosa, it seems, is choosing populist land expropriation as a means for economic expediency.
Problem is, it cannot run both ways. And therefore, the fears exist that land expropriation at the expense of the Constitution will be the change in the environment to expose our instability.
Recently it was reported that the ANC had already identified 139 farms to be expropriated without compensation in the coming weeks in an attempt to test section 25 of the Constitution. And this is even before the Constitution has been altered in any way.
No wonder Agri SA, which is South Africa’s largest organised farmers’ body, will keep an eye on the government’s plans, and it seems they are even willing to go to the Constitutional Court.
The question around expropriation is clearly a tactic to vote favour with the upcoming elections, but it holds the power to determine the future of South Africa’s economy and its well-being, thus act as a tipping point.
In the midst of all this drama, you find the brewing scandal of former North West premier Supra Mahumapelo who allegedly gave Jacob Zuma a herd of cattle worth R1.5-million as a gift – and paid for it using public funds.
The cows were also supposed to go to emerging farmers in the province but were delivered to Nkandla.
If this is true, then one has to really question if there is any real motivation to empower emerging farmers, or is land expropriation a political game that can destroy the nation?
There is also a belief that we have reached a tipping point in South African universities, as well as those of other countries.
This is based on the need to confront the dominance of traditional Western patriarchal culture, and to transform that culture to be more diverse and inclusive.
It is true that the word ‘university’ evokes a particular tradition, but around the world this university culture is being challenged and changed.
We have seen in SA with the fees must fall movement, and you just feel that the entire educational landscape in South Africa will undergo a radical tipping point sooner rather than later. The question is, will it then ever become stable again?
After all, Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has made it clear of late he is firmly committed to altering the current status of education when it comes to schools.
He said the Concourt ruling on Hoërskool Overvaal was a blow to non-racialism and is determined to build a non-racial society, and education is his catalyst.
And then, we have the story from abroad that if the polar ice continues to melt, forests are slashed and greenhouse gases rise to new highs, the Earth will pass a tipping point.
All of this spells higher temperatures and sea levels, which leads to a ‘Hothouse Earth’ which is likely to be uncontrollable and dangerous to many.
Experts are warning that rivers would flood, storms would wreak havoc on coastal communities, and coral reefs would be eliminated – all by century’s end or even earlier.
Researchers suggest the tipping point could come once the Earth warms to 2 Celsius over pre-industrial times. The planet has already warmed 1 C over pre-industrial times and is heating up at a rate of 0.17 C per decade.
So what does this all mean? They say change is as good as a holiday, but one fears the changes we are seeing politically, and even in the environment, only point to one direction – disaster locally and globally.
