We need black consciousness

Let me piggy-back on the passing of Thom Manthata, a leader who consciously wore many political hats as an activist, to debate the rarely touched question of why black consciousness and pan-Africanism are needed now more than ever before.

Manthata served in the United Democratic Front/ANC and the Black Consciousness Movement, as well as in the church in his lifetime, conscious of the fact that ideological differences should not be the cause of compartmentalisation of our people. No political ideology must separate us away from who we should be as black people and Africans in the fashion articulated by Steve Biko and Robert Sobukwe.

These and non-racialism as espoused by Luthuli, Tambo and Mandela’s ANC should co-exist but with black consciousness and pan-Africanism as a basis. None of them are racial or ethnical for that matter and could together work to achieve the same goal of complete emancipation of the masses in their mind and economically – considering that political freedom is already there.

For that matter, there should be nothing untoward in being a BC adherent or being a pan-Africanist while still belonging to either the ANC, Azapo, and the PAC. Being black conscious or pan-Africanist should not be about a political party belonging or political ideology but identity.

It’s an identity of being proud of who you are; loving the continent or its unity; and doing so without allowing external ideological influences to dominate you. This period serve as an opportunity to take a look at the significance of BC and pan-Africanism post-1994, and how they could help to extricate us from the abyss we are in politically and economically.

Couldn’t understanding and appreciating who we are help us see the foolishness of fighting among ourselves and work to achieve both self and national development? None of the former liberation parties can claim to have not been affected by factionalism and break-ups since 1994.

The PAC, Azapo and other groupings continue to be consumed by infighting and factionalism, while the ANC never saw unity since Polokwane 2007 and a little before that. But the current retreat by the BC and pan-Africanists following the dawn of freedom and democracy should be our source of worry.

The self-inflicted factionalism and political oblivion that those parties find themselves in should be our concern as well. The participation of the BC and the PAC leaders fully as partners in the democratic government could have been used as the opportunity for them to influence the political and policy direction. Perhaps then we wouldn’t have been where we are today.

Now here is another opportunity made possible by the new 70s Group, which comprises activists from the era of the SA Students Organisation, who created the consciousness that inspired open resistance – thus laying the basis for democracy. They claim to be anti-sectarian, anti-racist and anti-sexist and are dedicated to the quest to reclaim “Our Common Humanity”.

Through the 70s Group this may be an opportunity for all liberation parties to find common ground and push together to achieve the economic transformation that our people are yearning for.

Eric Naki

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