ANC’s death is upon us
A defining moment for the blog was when I wrote, ANC’s death is upon us. It was after writing the piece I realised a new direction for the column.
The piece was written a month before ANC’s Conference in Mangaung, December 2012; ironically at the time of writing the article, the late international icon, Nelson Mandela was in hospital. With fears of his death looming, I started thinking of how the ANC deteriorated.
From an organisation which instilled hope, they had become tainted by corruption and arrogance. The wheels of the ANC as we knew it were coming off, while they were celebrating their 100th year centenary, I felt the party was in decay.
Earlier this year I revisited the same opinion, with Nkandla and the death of Mandela being the main reasons I wrote article, I took a moment to remember what the life of Madiba meant.
These words summed up what the article was all about, “South Africans should not be defined by the colour of their skin; we should learn to live in an inclusive government which does not treat the minority as the voiceless.
“As Nelson Mandela once said, ‘A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.
“In this case, we should measure how well we are doing as a country by only looking at the majority; we also have a responsibility to protect and listen to the views of the minority.”
Why I don’t do 67 minutes for Mandela
Nelson Mandela Day is always an emotional one for me, simply because I feel the responsibility of advancing the legacy of Tata Madiba, however, I will never do 67 minutes on the day.
The problem is our enthusiasm lasts only a day, and for some the 67 minutes they are using to serve others. Social media on the day is engulfed by posts of what people did on Mandela Day, almost like promoting the good they do and not much about what the legacy of Mandela is.
Service to fellow South Africans should be a lifestyle which we all need to embrace. We should not need a special day to dedicate to serving others. Although it is the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s aim to spark this lifestyle change – the reality is; the only lifestyle sparked is an annual service to others for only 67 minutes.
How long must white people suffer?
This was by far the biggest risk I took since writing the column, but because I strongly believed in the message, I simply had to…
I am not one who believes in being politically correct, as far as I am concerned, all South Africans are equal. Just because we failed to redress the effects of Apartheid, does not mean we should over-compensate by making the middle class and white people suffer.
A black man needs to realise that his freedom means nothing if a white man’s life has become devalued in some way, as the Mayor of Ekurhuleni, Mondli Gungubele would say: “Our aim is to make sure we provide equal services to everyone, we do not do so by lessening the standard of living in Alberton, but we continue to strive towards improving the lives of those in townships.”
Vuka Muntu o mnyama vuka (Wake up black man – wake up)
In addition, wrote this piece to elaborate further, because it is not only the white man who suffers, but the black man too.
When I said ‘Vuka Muntu o mnyama vuka’ – I needed every black man to realise that his freedom means nothing if his kind has no access to quality services, his freedom is trampled upon by the leaders who steal from them in the name of security, and his freedom means nothing if leaders speak of economic development which leaves the poor even poorer!
These articles are some of my favourites, and I would like to thank the readers for taking time to engage with the thoughts I had to share over the past three years… here is to more politically incorrect pieces.
