A dawn of a new era -- towards a unified South Africa

South Africans remember December 16 as the day of extraordinary courage on part of thousands of Zulu warriors under the command of Dambuza and leadership of Dingane kaSizangakhona who, armed with spears, launched an offensive against Voortrekkers, with the advantage of gunpowder, in the battle that historians coined as the Battle of the Blood River (Ncome River). We commemorate this important day in our history as the Day of Reconciliation; and it is on this day again that men and women of all hues and creed opened a new chapter in the history of our country, to usher a dawn of a new era in the politics of this country. The inaugural conference of the Congress of the People (Cope) was a watershed moment in our democratic dispensation, when we launched a new agenda of hope and change.

Many South Africans have for the first time since 1994 been inspired to change the course of history. “The history of South Africa will never be the same again! … When history books are written, all of you will be remembered for your bravery and your willpower to act decisively when the minute came that you realised our country was sliding a downward path,” said the president of Cope, Mosiuoa Lekota, at the inaugural conference in Bloemfontein. Indeed Cope is making history. For the first time in our history, this beloved country will have a political party that provides a home for all South Africans, black and white, who together will define the future as it should be; and free future generations of the burden of redressing fundamental issues which we are responsible for.

The task of building a unified South Africa that belongs to all who live in it has been abandoned by those upon whom we placed our faith and confidence; and the time has arrived that we as a unified collective assume the burden of responsibility to do it for ourselves and the next generation. A season of hope has dawned! The emergence of Cope provides an even greater delight and arouses renewed enthusiasm in the previously despondent and apathetic in shaping the nature of our politics. South Africans, young and old, black and white, realise that theirs is the task of redefining their own destiny; of bringing about change that the liberation struggle had intended but was derailed by self-interests, corruption, careerism and opportunism.

WEB Du Bois in his treatise, Striving of the Negro People (1897) said: “Between me and the other world there is ever an unasked question: unasked by some through feelings of delicacy; by others through the difficulty of rightly framing it. All, nevertheless, flutter round it. They approach me in a half-hesitant sort of way, eye me curiously or compassionately, and then, instead of saying directly, How does it feel to be a problem?”

His was an important question in the context of addressing the problem of the colour line; and it is an important a question to problem of 21st century, the problem of corruption, ineptitude and lawlessness, the problem that our beloved country has to contend with. The multitudes of men and women who have elected to heed the calling to be part of the change they need, did so in recognition of the reality that sitting on the sidelines was an indictment on their part; when problems of our day demanded that they rise and act. These men and women, specifically those who had been apathetic to politics, have become part of the new political formation because they could no longer sit back and watch their beloved country being subjected to systematic abuse.

There are those who have sought to brainwash South Africans into believing that theirs are unreconciled ideals; that solutions to problems emanating from our painful past required divisive measures that would only entrench the ills of apartheid and hamper progress towards a unified country. While we all acknowledge and recognise the impact of our past in the present, we equally recognise that unity is key in resolving such issues.

The issues of affirmative action and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) have resulted in unintended consequences of marginalising those who, like any other South Africans, should be benefiting from the prosperity of their beloved country. Young white South Africans and poor whites can longer exist in the periphery of economic progress; and suffer for the sins of their fathers and forefathers. Cope does not seek to eradicate these measures as has been widely reported, but to ensure that such measures are inclusive where needs be. We cannot build a unified South Africa when our message to our fellow compatriots is that they are not good enough to enjoy the same benefits and protection under the state as black people.

Again the president of Cope said, “Ours shall be a truly non-racial political party which will provide a home and voice to all South Africans, irrespective of race, class and gender.” It is Cope that provides hope that the ideals of equality which we share amongst ourselves as South Africans are reconcilable. Together we can all free our country from the bondage of hooliganism, intolerance and intimidation that has characterised the nature of our politics in recent times; and make great strides in the line of progress, confident in the knowledge that the laws of morality and the rule of law have a place in the social creed of all of us.

According to Ray Stannard Baker (1870-1946), “Democracy does not consist of mere voting, but in association, the spirit of common effort, of which the ballot is a mere visible expression. When we come to know one another we soon find that the points of likeness are much more numerous than the points of difference. And this human association for the common good, which is democracy, is difficult to bring about anywhere, whether among different classes of white people, or between white people and Negroes.”

Committed to the ideals that Nelson Mandela struggled for, nothing can prevent all of us from achieving the common good, all united in our diversity. WEB Du Bois again in his treatise, On Religion, said, “Herein lies the tragedy of the age. Not that men are poor: all men know something of poverty. Not that men are wicked: who is good? Not that men are ignorant: what is truth? Nay, but that men know so little of each other.”

We are standing at the crossroads of history. We are building a new party, a new identity, and a new culture that is all embracing and inclusive. The challenge facing former African National Congress (ANC) members is to withdraw themselves from the culture of struggle politics, which they have long been accustomed to. Humans are creature of habit and for former ANC members in Cope, theirs is an arduous task of starting anew and ensuring that the previously non-political members feel accommodated.

We cannot claim to be a new party with its own identity when we continue to exhibit the culture of the ANC. The large majority of us cringe at the use of revolutionary terms and phrases such as “comrade”, “cadre”, “viva” and so on. We should not only preach change, but in word and deed that change should be reflected. Our leadership should begin to lead us by example in this important matter and I believe they will.

Dr Alan Boesak said, “I look at you in all your rainbow splendour and I say to myself that there has never been a time like this.”

Change is coming!