NOW THAT WE ARE FREE

There was a time in the not so distant past when we were not free – when many aspects of our lives were prescribed by people other than ourselves.

Through collective efforts of those who remained in the country and the exiles, pressure came to bear on the then apartheid regime to screaming and shouting agree to the inevitability of a negotiated political settlement. Change had reached a point of no return and the regime had to adapt to changed political circumstances or die.

As a consequence of these combined efforts and the support of the international community we woke up one blessed morning to see Dr Nelson Mandela being inaugurated as the country`s first democratically elected president.

So moved by this miraculous turn of events was our Archbishop Desmond Tutu who proclaimed us all as the rainbow nation of God.

From that point on we all became South Africans, irrespective of colour, creed, gender or class. We in a way were destined to be one big happy family. A new world without restrictions opened for us all.

No more would books be banned or dissenting voices met with the mighty wrath of an illegitimate regime. We could think and express our thoughts with neither fear nor favour.

We were free to be who we wished to be.

It is over a decade and half since the dawn of freedom and democracy. This passage of time calls on all of us to go into a review process of some sort. How far have gone as a people in our individual capacities. Have we grabbed the opportunities that came with the dawn of freedom and democracy?

Or are we still the same people we were before the democratic break-through of 1994 and threatening to remain thus until the fullness of time?

If the over fifteen or so years of freedom and democracy haven`t transformed us into better people then all the sacrifices made in the course of the struggle for liberation were in vain.

I am raising all these issues because we appear to go about our chores in a casual manner, irrespective of where fate has tossed us.

One had thought that with freedom we would have gone beyond ourselves in whatever area of engagement to celebrate the fact that we at last have the untrammeled space to test our abilities to the maximum.

What we instead have is a celebration of mediocrity. This has killed whatever drive for excellent that is ingrained in all of us. Even our best brains have resorted to an asprin approach to a success which has been mutilated beyond recognition.

Even the success we talk about has become something else that requires no effort but connectedness to those with the power and authority to dispense patronage.

Obviously this approach will render meaningless our sacrifices and of those long departed in the course of the struggle for liberation. What we will reap in the fullness of time will be a wasteland that can only clothe us in shame.

All is however not lost. We still can redeem whatever is left of our integrity and redirect the ship in the right destination which will show the world that indeed our time has come.

There is more to post-apartheid South Africa than a life of bling ill-gotten through government contracts and undeserved high-paying positions in government.

WE need to go back to the basics – be proud of what we do and do it as best as we can. This regardless of whether it being the teaching of children in a hidden away village or the sweeping of the streets in the provincial capital.

Now that we are free, we need to go about our daily business like men and women who are free from the mental bondage of our past.

As the ANC Youth League president Julius Malema said during this year`s Peter Mokaba Memorial Lecture:”To be a mayor, to be a councilor, to be a premier, minister or president is not different from being a priest – it is a calling.”

That is what being free entails, looking beyond whatever trappings that high office accord and selflessly serve those who have trusted us with the stewardship of this country and its institutions.

PS. This piece was first published in Limpopo-On-Line news portal.

Mantashe Calls on ANC Councillors to Perform

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe recently called on his party`s municipal councillors to up their act as their failure has the potential of causing the ruling party to lose two metropolitan municipalities in 2011.

Mantashe was addressing about 500 ANC councillors in Gauteng. The two metros which are the targets of the coaliation of opposition parties are Nelson Mandela, Tshwane and possibly Ekurhuleni.

He further cautioned councillors against the scramble for resources, political infighting and awarding of jobs for pals as having the potential to destroy the party.

These sentiments have since been echoed by ANC Youth League president Julius Malema during this year`s Peter Mokaba Memorial Lecture in Vereeniniging, South of Johannesburg.

Malema said, "To be a mayor, to be a councillor, to be a premier, minister or president is not different from being a priest - it is a calling...the generation of 1976 did not march so that people could reserve jobs for friends...people who enter politics must not expect to be rich.

In an effort to improve the state of governance at local level and maintain some visible depth of skills and experience the ANC will conduct a performance assessment of councillors which must be completed by the end of December this year.

This assessment will cover three broad areas - council work, political work and personal development.

Adding more flesh to this theme in an an article in the ANC online newsletter, ANC Today, Mantashe further said,
"To ensure continuity and improvement of our performance, we must strive for the retention of experience...councillors and our branches must be part of the presidential crack team fighting crime and corruption.
We surely are destined for exciting times.

Jacob Zuma`s First 100 Days

The way the media and other sections of the chattering class have gone about the prospects of a Jacob Zuma presidency one couldn`t help by expect the heavens to fall on us in the then unlikely event of the man becoming president of the republic of South Africa.
As we all know, the April 22 general election gifted the ANC a near two-thirds majority which saw Zuma being comfortably elected South Africa`s fourth democratically-elected president after Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe respectively.
We once more became the envy of the world the three previous presidents were at hand to observe as the baton of government was passed on to Zuma - an obvious first in our conflict-ridden times.
Zuma went on to appoint a cabinet of men and women few could find fault in. Even the hard to please markets responded generously to the Zuma cabinet.
Then there was Archbishop Desmond Tutu who called to all to give Zuma chance and even had the generosity of equating the former with Barack Obama.
At the end of his first 100 days Zuma has been hailed by friends and foes alike. His approval ratings have soar.
We therefore can look to the future with pride and confidence knowing that the stewardship of the country is good hands.

GENESIS

We have just celebrated over a decade since our own icon Dr Nelson Mandela was inugrated as the first democratically elected president of South Africa. Our smooth transition to freedom and democracy was hailed by the world as a miracle.
So moved by this smooth transition was Archbishop Desmond Tutu that he proclaimed all of us the rainbow nation of God.
As if there was no end to the miraculous birth of our democracy in 2008 a sitting president, Thabo Mbeki, was recalled by his party the ANC and replaced by Kgalema Motlanthe. No blood was shed, no properties were destroyed. The country didn`t go up in smokes, neither did the sky fall on us.
On April 22 this year South Africans went to the polls to renew the mandate of govern. In keeping with how we do things in South Africans, it was all plain sailing. The cherry on top was when Jacob Zuma was inaugrated as our fourth democratically elected president of South Africa.
To the envy of the whole world Zuma`s inaugration was witnessed by all our past presidents with the third Kgalema Motlanthe, being in line to our deputy president.
Even as we find ourselves in a global economic recesion, we are confident that by working together we will once more pull together.
These interesting developments needed to be chronicled for posterity by South Africans from all walks of lives. Even us ordinary people have a role in this project. It is our country too, and so is it is our history.
We will not leave it to academics and others who have have historically enjoyed the monopoly to chronicle the history and developments of nations.
I have taken it upon myself to be the griot to chronicle our history in the manner that those who came before me did in West Africa. I will over time keep track of the history and developments of my people over time
The journey starts here and all are more than welcome to take front seats as this blog takes you to all sorts of exciting places - through polemics, poetry and personal experience. Feel free to leave your comments upon visiting this blog.
Africa - your time has come.