SA’s struggle with present reality over idealised pasts

Now that Freedom Day has come and gone, it does appear that there was some wisdom to the date for the general election to be selected after 27 April.

The benefit, even if only for the ruling party, is that whatever celebrations government chose to have could be turned into election campaign events.

No-one can fault the ruling party for organising an official government event that celebrates 30 years of freedom on the lawns of the Union Buildings where Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as president of a new South Africa.

The only thing that jarred as ministers and the president gave speeches was the constant emphasis on how South Africa is a better place today than it was 30 years ago.

The constant harking back to an imaginary glorious past under apartheid is mischievous. But it happens for a good reason. The new South Africa is not what people imagined it would be.

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And if the ruling party was earnestly working towards getting citizens the country Mandela promised them so many years ago, there would not be people hankering for that politically divisive past that forms part of this country’s least proudest moments.

The freedom celebrated on 27 April has come with benefits like free education up to tertiary level, but has also brought along a lot of decay.

And, as is often the case, it is easy to blow up the negative narrative, as the adage “bad news travels fast” says.

And countering the bad news with a constant reminder of the good that government has done is not the right approach. If anything, it makes the ruling party appear defensive and nothing appears as ungenuine or inauthentic as Tuesday 10 30 April 2024 a minister or president blowing their own horn.

The best way to sell the change that has taken place over the past three decades is to genuinely work towards addressing the biggest problems that cause people to think the past was better.

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For example, there are rumours in the media that all is not well in the department of higher education.

The allegations are that there are people who have used the introduction of free education to line their pockets through the administrative body, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas).

It is alleged that Minister Blade Nzimande has appointed people with questionable pasts when it comes to dealing with public funds to head Nsfas.

If the ruling party wants to convince the electorate that the present is better than the past, the president would be on top of these allegations immediately.

Letting Nzimande continue to try and unravel the mess at Nsfas when it is alleged he is part of the mess is what makes people look at the past with longing.

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How free is this education if it is providing a platform for looting from the very poor it is purporting assist?

People long for lives back in apartheid homelands because there was an element of perceived safety from general crime.

The new South Africa has violent crime levels that make the country one of the most dangerous places to live in.

There is a very good chance that millions of South Africans who would have chosen to commemorate 27 April at government or public events chose not to go out and do that because they fear for their personal safety and possessions.

For Freedom Day to get its meaning back, government must seriously deal with crime and corruption.

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