SA needs visionaries, like in the past

Former school teachers Curtis Nkondo and Thozamile Botha were more than political contemporaries. They were visionaries.

At a time when it was taboo to publicly praise jailed ANC leader Nelson Mandela or the Pan Africanist Congress stalwart, Robert Sobukwe, as the true leaders of South Africa, the two defied state might to launch what came to be known as the Port Elizabeth Black Civic Organisation (Pebco) in the late 1970s at the Zwide township’s Roman Catholic Church hall.

Sadly, the Pebco Three – Qaqawuli Godolozi, Champion Galela and Sipho Hashe, part of the Botha executive – were abducted on May 11, 1985 by apartheid death squads from the Vlakplaas unit, killed and their bodies thrown into the Fish River.

This gruesome assassination occurred five years after Botha – who was then banned from attending public meetings – had no choice but to flee the country, swelling the ranks of the ANC leadership in exile.

Nkondo and Botha did what many of our political leaders today fail to do – forged unity on what mostly affects many South Africans: service delivery at civic level.

Attending the Pebco launch was a refreshing experience for me, especially when remembering the humility displayed by the respected Nkondo, who constantly referred to Botha as “my leader”.

You may wonder why Pebco had to be referred to as a “black” organisation when South Africa also has whites, coloureds and Indians as citizens.

As a descendant of what was referred to as “a third-class citizen” at the time, I fully understood that Pebco had to deal with daily struggles faced by my mother, father, aunt and granny, who had no collective voice to express their grievances with local councils.

For them, forming a black queue to buy a loaf of bread at a white-owned shop may have been normal, but not to Nkondo and Botha, who were determined to challenge the status quo.

Our white counterparts at the time had ratepayers’ associations and bodies corporate that focused on issues insignificant compared with the strong stench from blocked sewerage drains we had to endure.

Despite much development, many still live in filth and squalor, often reminded by those in power that decades of apartheid rule may take much longer to completely eradicate.

How gullible can we be to this unconvincing explanation, when the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture continues to expose greedy politicians?

The growing number of young people driven to drugs and prostitution reflects a societal and governance dysfunction, with no leader paying attention – except for the door-to-door visits and the kissing of babies during the election period.

If we had many Pebco formations, whose mandate was not jobs for pals or tenders, would our townships and suburbs today be what they are?

If residents had very strong bonds as we did before – ensuring that we daily exchanged conversations on school progress, security and other civic matters, would we be here?

We are in this position because we no longer have selfless individuals like Nkondo, Botha, Mandela, Sobukwe, Steve Biko and Chris Hani, whose mandate went far beyond individual gain.

Brian Sokutu.

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