New as the year is, the rising cost of life has battered it old. Old because the causes of our socio-economic woes began donkeys years ago.
Rampant corruption, for instance, predates the onset of Covid-19 which is often used as a scapegoat to explain away the crises we experience.
If anything, the pandemic simply shone a spotlight on the genesis of our problems.
Undoubtedly, the Russia-Ukraine war has exacerbated the predicament of the poor in a way not imagined in recent history.
However, irrespective of which country is to blame for the bloodletting we witness on our screens, let us be clear – war kills people.
The images of the elderly and children uprooted from their familiar surroundings should be a warning to us – humanity – that using force to solve our differences only leads to unnecessary strife.
Long after the guns go silent, maimed bodies and tortured minds will remain, providing a fertile ground for the ignition of revenge engagement.
As South Africans have learned, reconciliation and peace efforts come at a price. We all know that instead of living the promise of 1994, the country is occasionally mired in flare-ups of racism, tribalism and xenophobia, which directly emerge from colonialism and apartheid.
Over the past 28 years, attempts to bring the different and differing sections of our people have succeeded only in papering over the schisms.
Dangerous rhetoric lingers under the surface, and serious threats lurk behind every protest action.
As should happen between Russia and Ukraine, an open dialogue between the warring factions in our country is the only durable panacea.
No amount of diplomacy will save us from looming catastrophes, except sober-minded discussions about what led to the present suspicions and what the way forward should be.
As we celebrate Human Rights Month, it is disheartening to note that, as a country, we are divided about its significance and meaning.
Instead of extending a hand to each other, we deliberately throw barbs meant to hurt ‘the other’.
The ever-gullible masses, unfortunately, are sometimes sacrificed for the benefit of those who shape their thinking.
Clearly, those in positions of power and influence sometimes knowingly muddy the waters through their point-scoring antics.
Critically though, the war that threatens world peace should teach us that in such conflicts no one is a winner.
It is unfortunate that the poor always shoulder the burden. If there was a time for pragmatic leadership, it is now.
Narcissists will not save us; only those who are keen to improve the plight of the poor and the vulnerable can give us a new direction to peace, love and prosperity.
*Dr Khaya Gqibithole is a lecturer in the English department at the University of Zululand
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