(Mis)understanding ubuntu: A reply

The concept of ubuntu has been bandied about quite freely and mostly carelessly by writers who associate the term with the language in which it often appears. Ubuntu is bigger, broader and deeper than its Nguni “appearance”.

I do not recall ever reading or hearing anyone say that ubuntu means that black people are morally, ethically and so forth better people than whites or any other racial categories. Ubuntu is definitely not about colour or categories of any kind. Anyone who puts it down to skin is either intentionally twisting their understanding of ubuntu or talking about something else.

Granted, there are some really great challenging thoughts that Sandile Memela has thrown around in his rather long piece titled: “‘Ubuntu’, the inherent goodness of blacks and (d)evil whites“. I fully agree with Sandile and comments from Thought Leader readers that people’s evil or goodness has absolutely nothing to do with their skin colour. Now that we are clear on that, I will share with you below what my understanding of ubuntu is.

I can see why ubuntu can easily be regarded as mythical and idealistic by those who do not understand it. The same response can be had from those among us too lazy to find out what it really is, and what it is all about, or those who find it too easy to latch on to easy misconceptions that serve their beliefs or arguments about such ideas or ideals — or about anything originating from so-called “dark” Africa. I will explain (again) what ubuntu is, and give definitions from some of our heroes who not only teach ubuntu to others, but also practise and live it every day.

To start with, ubuntu is best understood experientially, as lived and experienced, and not merely conceptually and as intellectual debate. I am not surprised that it is easy to garner a vocal chorus of agreement to some of Sandile’s statements where his contribution seems unfortunately to reduce ubuntu to the shallow and myopic interpretation of its meaning that black people claim a higher moral ground over anyone else out there. It is a misrepresentation of what ubuntu is about. Black or white people doing nasty stuff has got nothing to do with ubuntu.

The basic Nguni description of ubuntu is simply this: “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu [I am who I am because of others around me; I am because we are].”

Let me say this again: ubuntu has absolutely nothing to do with skin colour.

Issues of black people winning BEE tenders and driving expensive cars or ignoring their poor relatives is a totally different topic. But if we were to pull it into the discussion, I would argue that in fact this (poor family/moral values) illustrates what happens when ubuntu is eroded or replaced by the greed and “individualisation” of everything that we all know characterises Western civilisation. This is the same civilisation that has given us so much good in human advancement in some aspects of our lives, and all the technology that we are using. The important thing to remember is that there is always another side to every good development, and a price to pay down the line.

Now, let me get back to what the African philosophy of ubuntu is all about. I will quote from our beloved Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu again (see my first posting on the subject titled: “Ubuntu: Myth or antidote to today’s socio-political and leadership challenges?“) Tutu said the following about ubuntu:

“Africans have a thing called ubuntu; it is about the essence of being human, it is part of the gift that Africa is going to give to the world. It embraces hospitality, caring about others, being willing to go that extra mile for the sake of another. We believe that a person is a person through other persons; that my humanity is caught up and bound up in yours. When I dehumanise you, I inexorably dehumanise myself. The solitary human being is a contradiction in terms, and therefore you seek to work for the common good because your humanity comes into its own in community, in belonging.”

Another helpful understanding of ubuntu is that it is “about individual behaviour, group behaviour and community values, and is the cultural bedrock from which our common humanity springs” … not just black people, but all of us.

When we reduce ubuntu to some blacks saying that they own ubuntu as a result of their blackness, then we risk misleading those among us who do not yet grasp the inherent goodness that is in all of us as a collective, which is what ubuntu is about. Extensive research on the subject has shown that ubuntu behaviours and practices are common across the African continent and beyond, but mainly inherent among Africans of all shades and groupings.

Apparently you can also find similar behaviours among communities in Asia and Latin America. Each community has its variety of acknowledged and “aspired to” group behaviours. The African version is typical and endemic to Africa, and its distinctive quality and special emphasis on the value of the collective is heightened more than elsewhere. The manner in which traditional meetings were/are run, for example, using lekgotla principles, where there is respect for each person when taking turns to speak, is a great illustration of valuing everyone.

Of course, we cannot romanticise everything traditional; at least we should take the great ideas whose lack today accounts for most of the moral decay that we find among ourselves, especially among our youth.

Ubuntu intelligence emphasises the acknowledgement of our strength as a collective, and not as individuals chasing disparate goals, or going after separation, or stressing differentiating dreams that are not hooked to our common value and worth either as a nation or as another collective that serves us all. Ubuntu builds nations.

Another beloved hero, Nelson Mandela, has also put his voice across in promoting the value of Ubuntu, especially in business. He said:

“Ubuntu in business can help bridge gaps between people in the workplace, stakeholders within and outside the enterprise, [between] businesses and the broader society in which they operate. As a uniquely African moral philosophy, ubuntu belongs in business life on this continent, just as it does in our political and social lives. Ubuntu promotes cohabitation: the tolerance and acceptance of all races and creeds in the human household … Ubuntu reminds people in the household [and in organisations] that they are all part of the greater human family and that all depend on each other. It promotes peace and understanding.” (In foreword to a book called Let Africa Lead, written by Reuel Khoza).

Sandile’s TL post carries many great ideas, brave and courageous statements too, from a black man in today’s South Africa. While I congratulate Sandile on the message he is sending out to those black people among us who claim a moral high ground while behaving otherwise, I would like to invite TL readers who swallowed whole everything Sandile said to chew on it a bit more, and then dig deeper on this subject and not reduce it to mere postulations that perpetuate its misunderstanding and reduce it to colour. It is much, much more than that.

The brilliant irony in Sandile’s message is what it says to South Africans who live in enclosed laagers in their minds, in community and/or other group configurations, and those who apparently own and appropriate what and who is right and/or wrong among us as a nation. Yes, we have to have standards, and none of us should stand for the utter debauchery, hatred and levels of criminal activity that we experience.

We will all do ourselves a whole lot of collective good when we start seeing beyond the colour of crime and criminals; when we see that it does not matter what colour the criminal or the victim is; when we not only condemn every crime with equal measure, but also act to highlight and raise our collective awareness to our collective strength and wisdom to deal with whatever we face.

That will be the day when we are all really grown up. I have said before that it is easy to poke holes and tear at anything that anyone else says, especially if it does not feed the insatiable hunger we have for negative news about how terrible things are. We feed on the negative news and we are fed upon in return, and the vicious cycle goes on. Enjoy your fix for the day, and I bet it will be in one (or three!) of the dailies’ headlines. It is what we created, and what we continue to reproduce, collectively.

Ubuntu says that we are in this shit together, and we will be better able to deal with it and thrive in our effort when we reach out to each other, hold hands and walk this journey together, towards a better future for our children. It is about seeing other people for who they are, and not how we would like them to be.

As noted already, ubuntu is best understood experientially. It has nothing to do with the colour of the wrapping that you and I come in. Reducing it to that is an unfortunate misunderstanding of this great philosophy of life that has massive global appeal which is growing every day.

It will be a sad day when we wake up to find ourselves invited to attend workshops on ubuntu principles conducted by Americans and Englishmen who happen to have taken on ubuntu and are lapping it up as the best thing to come out of Africa and exactly what the world needs … and we are busy pissing on each other instead.