2014-10-24 | Pretoria
By Matthew Smith
Self-reliance is one of the major principles currently lacking in the South African populace. Independence is not a universally appreciated concept in this part of Africa thus non-stop service delivery protests are experienced, violent crimes are prevalent, extremely high wage bills not commensurate with productivity are demanded, victimhood, xenophobia, corruption, lack of performance in education and sports, higher than normal levels of entitlement to private, government and international support. Some sections of the country’s population are independent whilst the majority have no clue what independence is and how it can be achieved. The lack of appreciation of the independence concept of is one of the key drivers of social polarisation in South Africa.
There exists deep social issues in Mzansi that need to be analysed objectively and due remedy taken so as to achieve the liberation that every human being yearns for. In my humble opinion, we have to look at pre and post 1994 messaging to sections of the public and ask ourselves what the key drivers to the social issues above are. The information disseminated to the different racial groups before independence and to the different economic groups after independence has been different and sheds some light into this social inquest.
The reason why I have fragmented the population into sections is that the messaging to different racial groups was not the same pre1994 and the messaging is now different according to social status.
Pre-1994, the privileged white beneficiaries of the apartheid system had access to resources and the means of production thus they had more latitude and flexibility to develop systems around them that would ensure sustainability at family and communal level. With the isolation of South Africa, the white section of the population had a double edged sword in the form of unfair access to resources, well-developed resourcefulness and entrepreneurship.
The development of their resourcefulness, also known as independence, was as a result of sanctions and restrictions of trade imposed by the world. It was not intellectual superiority of the whites over blacks that led to this metamorphosis but sheer unfair advantage. By the time 1994 came whites had a well-established independent economy that had been buttressed and accelerated through black exploitation. The whites achieved economic independence pre-1994. They achieved it because they were sold the “white superiority” dream through apartheid. White independence or self reliance was attained through targeted messaging and coordinated action of black oppression.
In the pre-1994 era, the black South African was oppressed and did not have access to the means of production; his/her land was forcibly taken away. Blacks did not have resources and through the coordinated mental and physical attacks instituted by apartheid, the black individual had limited manoeuvring space to attain economic independence. Come 1994, the black child was in an economic prison, the prison conditions were so bad that the black child did not develop enough resourcefulness to be able to flourish in a free society.
The black child had over the years developed resistance of the oppressive system through toyi-toying, involvement in violent crime towards his/her oppressors, habitual excessive drinking to drown the sorrows and other habits that could take him/her through another day. The black child was reduced to a victim of the circumstances as the circumstances were harsh. Victimhood is now firmly entrenched in black culture and is a weapon that can be used to justify any shortcomings.
In 1994, political freedom was achieved. What did this mean for black and white South Africans?
Whites had the skills, resources and well developed resourcefulness thus they thrived even better than pre-1994. Blacks had no skills, no resources and their resourcefulness was mostly in destructive mechanisms that they had developed to resist the system in the form of violent crime and toyi-toying. Asking a South African not to toyi-toyi is like asking Michael Jackson not to dance.
Due to lack of resourcefulness, blacks expect the government, local and international donors to deliver services, donations and other handouts since they have been oppressed for a long time and now it is “freebie-time”. Blacks feel the world owes them due to past transgressions. Can you blame them? They have not been adequately equipped with tools to be self-reliant so as to achieve true economic independence. The tools necessary to achieve this are not merely resources in the form of iPads, houses, jobs and BEE contracts.
To cause a perturbation in perspective, targeted messaging and actions ought to be taken in defining the philosophy of the “South African dream”, if one exists. All government departments, private companies, civil society and individuals ought to speak in unison in the quest for true independence. The majority of black South Africans cannot even dream of true independence because they do not even appreciate the concept, no one sold the concept to them. If this concept had been planted, fertilised and watered continuously in people’s minds we could have been enjoying the fruits of these endeavours by now. We need to go back to the drawing board and rethink if we want freedom or independence for our people.
For a better shot at economic independence through the efficient and sustainable use of these resources it is necessary to redefine freedom. It is necessary to place more emphasis on independence as opposed to freedom. Freedom is not adequate to get us to the promised Land. In 1994 emphasis should have been on the packaging the “South African dream”. Yes, we can now walk in Sandton and eat anywhere we like, yes that is freedom but who owns Sandton and all the places we are eating? Are black people really capacitated to be free?
One might be tempted to argue on the basis of the success of BEE. BEE is a necessary step in addressing resource allocation but is not an end in itself. BEE as it is currently framed encourages black dependence on existing white entities. An established white entity procures a black person either to be the face of the company at bidding time or to appear to be transformative. BEE is nearing the end of its lifecycle and usefulness as it does very little in developing black people’s resourcefulness skills which can only be fully learnt if put to the test of starting up our own entities that we can also procure white people to be part of.
The first failure at true black empowerment and independence is the schooling system, the system is failing learners who have now developed a serious dependence on government for marks or lowering of pass thresholds. The learners feel entitled to marks like their parents are entitled to RDP houses, BEE and other freebies that are meant to enhance their lives. The private, public sectors combined with efforts by international organisations is further propagating the cycle of dependence as a lot of resources are being dished out to learners and teachers who are even ill-equipped to use some of the stuff. We need an “assets-based approach”, to foster resourcefulness and liberation from aid. We can achieve a truly independent state if we empower each and every citizen to think progressively. This training starts in the homes before even starting school. We cannot point fingers at government as it is bending backwards to make education work, evidence shows that more than 6% of GDP is being poured into education. For the government efforts to pay dividends it is necessary and sufficient that we all rake responsibility through ISR (Individual Social Responsibility). The political environment in South Africa is conducive for growth as there is stability, so let us take up our responsibility arms and fight dependence, free-loading and poverty.
Blacks have to learn to be service renders and not be service delivery recipients at all times. If we continue in the fashion of perennial receivers then we are surely on a path to self-destruction and anarchy is inevitable. The whites have to learn to be fair players. Yes we know they run this country in terms of economics but that does not justify a white inexperienced, matriculant earning thrice as much as an experienced, fully qualified and competent black professional.
Let us all look beyond racial prejudices and build a sustainable country that we will be proud to hand over to the next generation. This can be achieved if we can aggressively up-skill our people to be better problem solvers. Mathematical thinking provides a good training platform to teach self-subsistence. It is necessary that we overhaul the maths curriculum to have meaning in our people’s lives through a utility-focused approach that encourages solution of relevant problems in our communities.
Let us surpass normal, mediocre education practices that have been imported from elsewhere, it is high time we took charge of our education and come up with a Proudly South African TM system that will truly empower our people , heal racial, social and economic wounds. The way we united behind Bafana Bafana during the 2010 World Cup is a template for possibilities. Yes we can.
Edzai Conilias Zvobwo 