Honest  and  True  South Africa

AN OPEN LETTER TO MY FELLOW INDIGENOUS SOUTH AFRICANS - DEAR MY FELLOW INDIGENOUS BROTHERS AND SISTERS...

 

The time has come for us Indigenous South Africans and to a large extent, us as Indigenous Africans to look each other in the eye and hurt each other with the truth regarding where we come from, where we are and where we are headed. There is only one way that will lead us to total liberation and that is being honest and true about our actions and being accountable. If one wishes for rain, one must also be prepared to deal with the mud. It is ridiculous to expect rain and not want to have mud after rain.

 

We are where we are in life not only because of the choices and decisions we made, but we are where we are in life also because of the choices and decisions that we have made. So at any given point in life, we are at an opportune moment to choose or not to choose, to decide or not decide, and whatever we choose to do or not to do, as long as we are aware and would be ready to deal with the outcome, then life is good. In short, we are where we are as a People because we chose and decided and or we did not choose and never decided when we had the opportunity to do so.

 

Yes, we’ve come a long way as Indigenous South Africans. Yes, we were colonized and Yes, apartheid destroyed us badly and in an unimaginable way. Those never affected will never ever know let alone fully understand the extent of the pain and suffering we have and continue to suffer to this day. Yes, it has been years and years, centuries of pain and suffering for us and we have all the right to demand redress from the inventors and beneficiaries of both colonialization and apartheid. It is an undisputable fact that inventors and beneficiaries of both colonialism and apartheid continue to benefit to this day and all this continue to happen at our expense.

 

The flip side of the coin is that as much as what I have just said herein above is factually true, it is also factually true that some of us have turned their backs on us and decided to join inventors and beneficiaries of both colonialism and apartheid. It is factually true that some of us have turned into our new oppressors using the same rotten and criminal system of colonialism and apartheid. Yes, a lot has gone wrong thanks to colonialism and apartheid but it is self-misleading for us to keep blaming everything on colonialism and apartheid.

 

It is easy to blame the entire Nation for the mess that we find ourselves in at the moment however, I caution for such a blame to be considerate of the fact that from time in memorial, it is in our nature as Indigenous Africans to trust and entrust our lives in the hands of those we respect, especially the Elders of our communities, regardless of their selfish agendas. It is for this reason that Indigenous Africans across the Continent have always trusted and entrusted their future into the hands of either an individual or a grouping claiming to be representing our best interests at heart. Even with the distorted African Story as told by the winners and the rulers, you will realize the fact that even before the ANC and Nelson Mandela in the case of South Africa, Indigenous Africans across the Continent have always trusted and entrusted their lives either on individuals and or grouping.

 

When the peoples of this Continent especially South Africans in the context of South Africa, took to the streets in protest and fought with bare hands against colonialism and apartheid, they took such a brave and highly risky decision, with many dying in the process, with hope and a believe that such a brave and dangerous choice will lead the majority of the Peoples of this Country to a better life. Little did we know that we fought against colonialism and apartheid only for a privileged and politically connected few to benefit at the expense of the majority. Many of us are still in great shock and complete disbelief of what have become of our once upon a time, collective dream and aspiration as it were.

 

The colonial and apartheid blame game must stop now. We had ample time and huge opportunities to choose and make decisions for ourselves in many instances prior and post the dawn of the democratic dispensation. The time has come for those who led us during CODESA to come clean and tell us what they really got us into via the CODESA Agreement. It doesn’t need a rocket scientist to proof the fact that we got a raw deal and the little our so-called leaders can do is tell us the truth. It beats me to this day that if indeed democracy is as democratic as they say, how come two decades later, our so-called leaders refuse to be democratic enough to share details of the CODESA Agreement. They keep defending and protecting their decisions including the ever popular claim of sunset clauses of which the majority of South Africans knows about.

 

All that is evident is the fact that, whatever they may keep claiming as having been the best deal, details of the CODESA Agreement points to a huge compromise that can only be summed up as having sold the soul not only of Indigenous South Africans but also the soul of former colonisers and apartheid beneficiaries. This is Crystally clear in the way our Nation is at war with itself right now. We as Indigenous South Africans are fast losing patience and this is evident in the way we are dealing with many aspects of our lives at present. The so-called best deal in the CODESA Agreement, has perpetuated the injustices and imbalances brought by colonial and apartheid systems thereby increasing the inequalities with the rich and wealthy becoming richer and wealthier, and the poor and hungry becoming poorer and hungrier.

 

Colonialists, apartheid masters and beneficiaries are not the ones who implemented BEE to benefit a privileged and politically connected few. They are not the ones who converted our own Indigenous South African leaders into our new oppressors. They are not the ones officiating and legalizing crime and corruption but the elites who collude with colonialists, apartheid masters and beneficiaries to ensure the continuation of a bad thing. They are not the ones who developed wrong role models with overnight success stories of politicians cum business men and women amongst us. They are not the ones who influences our own government to kill its own people for merely asking for a better living wage and better or improved basic services such as water, housing, electricity, etc. Colonialists, apartheid masters and beneficiaries are not the ones spending hundreds of millions of Rands on individuals all in the name of security, etc. whilst many of our people die of hunger.

 

I can go on and on and on in giving factual examples of evidence on how guilty we are of being our own worst enemy but the long and short of the story is that, you know just as much as I know that, we are headed the wrong way and the sooner we admit this fact, the better for all of us. We are the ones who chose to settle for less instead of settling for what we deserve. We gave a guarantee that we are more than capable of having a broken egg in our hands and that we will ensure that it will never ever spill to the ground. We guaranteed to walk on top of ostrich eggs without braking them and we knew that this was only a wishful thinking if not a blatant lie. We opted to settle for political freedom instead of both political and economic freedom.

 

We decided to settle for the continuation of a bad system that has been and continues to divide us more and more and more as a Nation. This system was bad yesterday, it is still bad today and will be bad tomorrow. Our so-called educated and knowledgeable leaders should have known this better and therefore should have taken better decisions. We have for past two decades been making a lot of noise about a peaceful and successful transition from the old order to the new order but what we did not make noise about is how dangerous this so-called smooth transition is not only to us as a Country but also to our neighbours and friends beyond our border across the region. Anyone who disputes the fact that we are on the brink of a civil war is just as in denial as those in comfort zone thanks to this blind loyalty that has compromised us as a Nation to date.

 

The time is now for us as Indigenous Africans to acknowledge terrible and stupid mistakes we made and own up to our responsibilities. We asked, demanded and prayed for rain, we should know better that there is always sunshine and mud after rain. Lying to ourselves has brought us here today and will never take us to a promised land, if anything, lying to ourselves is leading us astray as a People, as a Nation and as a Country. The ball is in our court. We owe it to ourselves and not to anyone else. This Country has the potential to be more than a success but that will only happen the day we choose and decide to be honest and true to ourselves first before being honest and true to someone else.

 

As I have said many times before; We are where we are in life not only because of the choices and decisions we made, but we are where we are in life also because of the choices and decisions that we have made. So at any given point in life, we are at an opportune moment to choose or not to choose, to decide or not decide, and whatever we choose to do or not to do, as long as we are aware and would be ready to deal with the outcome, then life is good. In short, we are where we are as a People because we chose and decided and or we did not choose and never decided when we had the opportunity to do so.