Nkosana Sibuyi

Posted by Nkosana Sibuyi: 17 February 2010

History, its evolution and impact on society has immense potential to provide possibilities for watershed moments, contradictions and sustainable development for nations. The past and present as defining manifestations in humankind’s development shape the nature and character of a nation’s gravitation towards the future. In essence, the African Child, or children in particular, plays an historical and prime role in nation building, societal development and shaping the future beyond here and now. In the evolution and development of any society, it is children who have a predilection to reclaim the soul of the nation.

Yesterday, today and tomorrow constitute the cardinal timing in the development of society’s needs, wants, aspirations, longings, history and destiny. From this standpoint, yesterday and today bring with them the experience, lessons and legitimate guidance on how to build and sustain a better tomorrow. A better tomorrow is the zenith of the struggle waged yesterday and today in order to shape the nature of the future we create and build. Watershed and defining moments for the future are, accordingly created on the basis of the lessons of the past and the present. The essence of the experience from the past and present patently shows that humankind has been eclectic in analysis and interpreting catalytic interventions to create a new edifice for the future.

A welter of historical developments in the country have shaped that nature of who we were, who we became, who we are and how society will limn its character and the indomitable spirit of resilience. These include the 1952 Defiance Campaign, 1961 Formation of the Umkhonto Wesizwe, 1956 women’s march to the Union Buildings, Sharpeville, Bisho and Boipatong Massacres, 16 June, 27 April, Rivonia Trial, assassination of Steve Biko and Chris Hani amongst others.

Undeniably, the titanic struggle for the emancipation of South Africa involved people from different political, civic, academic formations and society as a whole in an environment marked by repression and oppression. In this context, the ushering of a democratic epoch in South Africa has helped create a society that responds to people’s needs and aspirations. Prof Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s observation on this aspect is telling.

In his path making tome, Moving the Centre: The Struggle for Cultural Freedom Prof Ngugi wa Thiong’o makes observations about the centrality, relevance and quality of the role children play in building a better future and a better world. In the chapter, Resistance to Damnation: The Role of Intellectual Workers, Prof wa Thiong’o intimates that “The liberation of South Africa is the key to the social liberation of the continent. Even our enemies know this. That is why they so tenaciously hold on to the key with guns and a racist ideology. But even as an adult, my talking about the survival of children is not an act of charity. Children are the future of any society. If you want to know the future of any society look at the eyes of the children. If you want to maim the future of any society, you simply maim the children. Thus the struggle for the survival of our children is the struggle for the survival of our future. The quantity and quality of that survival is the measurement of the development of our society.”

A critical element in Ngugi’s reflection revolves around children, the survival of the future and development of society. Accordingly, society is shaped by divergent forces in and of themselves in the survival of the future. Society’s nature of sustainable development is driven by ideas and evidence. Churches, as structures in society, are driven by faith. Politicians are driven by ideas and power. Business people are driven by wealth and power. The fundamental difference between society and people who exist within it is that she (society) is driven by both ideas and evidence.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of former President Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of the African National Congress, the Pan Africanist Congress, the South African Communist Party and a number of subsidiary organisations. One of the fundamental reasons and considerations made by the national party government at the time was informed by the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. The conclusion arrived at by the national party government was that the collapse of communism had “weakened the capability of organisations which were previously supported strongly from those quarters”.

On 2 February 1990 during the occasion of the opening of the second session of the ninth parliament of the Republic of South Africa, the state president, FW de Klerk said that:

“The year of 1989 will go down in history as the year in which Stalinist Communism expired. These developments will entail unpredictable consequences for Europe, but they will also be of decisive importance to Africa. Those who seek to force this failure of a system on South Africa should engage in a total revision of their point of view. It should be clear to all that it is not the answer here either. The new situation in Eastern Europe also shows that foreign intervention is no recipe for domestic change. It never succeeds, regardless of its ideological motivation. The upheaval in Eastern Europe took place without the involvement of the Big Powers or of the United Nations.”

The speech created a new texture and template that created a possibility for the ushering in of the process of a negotiated settlement for a democratic South Africa. Undoubtedly, the speech laid a basis for a conversation for opportunity, development and a sense of possibility across all sectors of society. This includes amongst others, government, community, politics, civil society, labour, education, business, family, the African continent and the world polity.

However, it may be apposite for us to celebrate the gains and progress that have been made since the unbanning of political parties and the ushering in of a democratic epoch. The past success, although appropriate and relevant to celebrate, we need to engage with new experiences, conditions and circumstances for the sustenance of society’s development. The conditions under which we exist require of us to use our abilities and capabilities to remain on course and thus responding to the defining challenges facing humankind. There is a cacophony of experiences that we need to learn from. This includes amongst others, an acknowledgement that these developments laid a basis for the normalisation of the South African society. For the African Child or children in general as future leaders, it is cardinal to study in pursuit of the noble goal to lead society in a manner that will propel the country from liquidity to solidity.

It may as well be veracious (or even justifiable) that some legislative pieces passed during this period might have created a false consciousness amongst South African children. The emergence, for instance, of Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment has created a possibility for young people to indulge in business thus overemphasising one aspect (business) at the expense of the other (education). One has observed that the emergence of “BEE guys” has also created a false sense of importance under the changed circumstances. The question remains: What is to be done? Where to from here? What have we learnt from Madiba? What is it that we are doing to create a meaningful future for South Africa in these changed circumstances? What should be the nature and content for our script for the future?

An analysis of the developments twenty years since the ushering in of democracy reminds one of the literary tools of analysis that we used in English literature known as the SIFT SEI method. It deals with the sense, intention, and feeling, tone, sensational, emotional and intellectual. All of these principles inherent in this method, based on our historical experience as a nation give a concrete expression of the integrated and broad nature which is very central to our continued existence. The defining elements that contribute to human development, memory, self-definition and well-being are pre-eminently the political, cultural, economic, social, psychological and physical survival of humankind. The simple question that needs to be posed is: to what extent does that the sense, tone and feeling shape humankind’s sensational, emotional and intellectual aspects of the society we seek to build?

It is, I suppose, fundamental for us to acknowledge, recognise and appreciate the heroic role that former Presidents FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela played before and after the 2 February 1990 historical announcement. They both represented different political agendas and ideological orientations and consciousness. However, the ushering in of a democratic epoch for the country took precedence over the political agendas in a manner that created possibilities and opportunities for a sincere sense of belonging and introspection.

Madiba and de Klerk became the living metaphor of the epic and classic struggle for survival and future with hope. They both helped create a genuine South African reality and the opportunities proffered by the manifestation of the democratic dispensation to which they both helped create. They both, with vim, zest and vigour helped create a true South African certainty and conviction beyond the mundane aspects of contradictory political life. Notably, during this second decade of freedom there are other qualities that are missing thus soiling the beauty of democracy that many have sacrificed and died for: leadership, anti-corruption, social cohesion, self-definition, memory. The absence of these qualities has a propensity to weaken who we are and who we become.

For instance, the ANC has always been led by extraordinary people. That is why it has extraordinariness. Once you impose ordinariness on this gigantic organisation, it will have the potential to reduce the organisation into a nonentity. Strategic political leadership and the way it is exercised an unfolding story of expectation, vision, endurance, fulfilment and energy. Human development integrates all forms of survival, existence and consciousness, valuable to our well being and recollection, self meaning and social solidity.

The past from which we come is equally usable under the current democratic epoch. This usable past, its utility and its contemporary relevance in a rapidly changing society such as South Africa has a potential to meaningfully benefit the African Chid that Prof wa Thiong’o spoke of. As we celebrate past successes, we need to learn from that experience and thus propel our country onto a higher trajectory of development and develop strategies that are in consonance with in a changed environment. The least we can do is to draw solace from what Ngugi advisedly implored us to integrate the survival and development of the African Child.

Accordingly, Ngugi concludes in his essay that “children in Africa best exemplify the struggle between two contending forces in Africa today: the forces of our demise on the one hand, and the forces of our survival on the other. Let our Pens, Brushes and Voices articulate the dreams of all the children of Southern Africa for a world in which their integrated survival and development is ensured. Let us sing songs of possibility of a new tomorrow, a new world. A luta continua!”