OPENING ADDRESS TO THE
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF AZAPO HELD IN PRETORIA ON 1-2 DECEMBER 2001 BY THE
PRESIDENT, MOSIBUDI MANGENA
In its profound wisdom, the
AZAPO Congress held in Durban last year, decided to reconstitute National
Council in a new format. The council is
to be convened in a year in which the biennial National Congress of AZAPO are
not held, and its main purpose is to afford the organisation another platform
to debate issues of national importance and currency. It is not an administrative or policy-making organ of the
organisation. It is also obvious that
National Council in its new format gives us a welcome opportunity to bring our
many heads together, to interact and share ideas in an environment free from
the rigorous and formalities of the Central Committee and Congress. It is also obvious that through this
council, we can educate one another on a variety of matters crucial to the
lives of our people, country and our organisation. If some of us were iffy and hazy about certain issues in our
country, we will leave Council better informed or confirmed.
At
the Durban Congress last year, we articulated a position that said that whilst
we recognise the fact that universal adult suffrage is attained in our country
and that we are different political parties with their own programmes and
policies, that the existence of our different political parties is good for the
health of democracy in our country, we should nevertheless, accept that there
are crucial questions in our lives that are bigger than our different political
issues. We cited the land question,
HIV.AIDS, crime, poverty and others as falling in a category that cry out for
regular consultations amongst patriots.
To that end we suggest the
creation of a forum where at least the leadership of the liberation movement of
our country could meet from time to time to assess whether as a nation we are
moving in the right direction; to check whether the ideals for which we fought
in the liberation struggle are being pursued; to ask ourselves whether the
cause for which the likes of Bantu Biko and other martyrs gave their lives is
being served and whether our actions, as a people, are imbued with their
spirit.
AZAPO has raised these
matters with the leadership of the other components of our liberation
movement. Whilst there was agreement at
the bilateral level, the forum we envisaged has not occurred, at least not
yet.
It is agreed among this
leadership of the liberation movement that we need to forge and deliberately
promote common national consciousness and patriotism among our people. Such a national consciousness is a
pre-requisite for national identity and commitment to do our bit, collectively,
to build our country. That Bafana
Bafana can play international matches in empty stadiums whilst club
competitions take place before capacity crowds, should tell us a lot more than
just the standard of soccer.
AZAPO believes that among
other things, we should take party politics out of national days and make every
citizen feel a sense of ownership and inclusion on such days. We are also of the view that there are
heroes and heroines who should be recognised and honoured by all of us for
their contribution to the nation. There
could be a day on which we forget what political affiliation Steve Biko, Chris
Hani, Smangaliso Sobukwe and many others had, and concentrate on their heroism
and their belongingness to us.
These and other elements
could provide the spirit and an intangible glue to bind us together as we
tackle crucial issues of national importance.
Indeed, the socio-economic
conditions under which we live do not approximate the aspirations of our
liberation struggle. The visualisation, dreams, imagination and picture of a
liberated country, which spurred us to greater and greater heights of sacrifice
and commitment, are still to be approximated.
The land question remains
unresolved in our country, crying out as it does, for a massive and radical
redistribution strategy. Those who had
land yesterday, still have it today and those who were dispossed of that land
by colonialism and conquest, are still the dispossessed. What is worse, the often brutal and
blatantly racist relations on that land, especially on the farms, remain what
they were prior to the democratisation of the political order.
As levels of unemployment
rise, poverty levels deepen. Evidence
of that is everywhere to see. More than
seven million Black people live in the shacks that greet and offend the eye
everywhere you go in this country. More
than two million of our people have no safe drinking water, forcing them to
rely on often polluted rivers and streams for their water.
A study conducted by the
Medical Research Council and published in the Sunday Times last week revealed
that about 20 % of Black children are physically stunted by the age of
two. It further revealed that:
(a) Black
babies are born, on average 200g lighter than white babies
(b) Between
25 % and 30 % of Black children are malnourished by the age of five, and
(c) Black
girls weigh on average, 6Kg lighter than their white counterparts by the age of
nine.
This physical and mental
stunting of Black kids are direct results of malnutrition, itself a direct
consequence of poverty. This research
shows that the gap between Whites and Blacks children since democratisation in
1994 has not changed. But we also know, that the gap between White and Black in
this country in all spheres of life has not changed, except for course, in the
political domain.
Black
people, but especially the patriots who fought for freedom, should be getting
together to say we struggled for liberation, we have had democracy for seven
years, yet we are still landless, we still live in mikhukhu by the million, or
children are still puny due to lack of nutrition, what can we do about it? Do we still think we are on the right
track? We could be asking each other,
while we travel in different vehicles, are we broadly speaking, on the right
highway and are we driving in the right direction?
In addition to these
political-socio-economic questions that we could collectively interrogate, it
seems to me that there are at least three other areas forcing themselves onto
the national agenda.
The first is the moral
crisis that faces us as a people. We
have all been aware of the high levels of crime in our society, especially
violent crime coming in the form of high-jackings, murders, rapes and armed
robbery. We are appalled that upwards
of 21 000 people die violent deaths in our country. But we are all numb with shock and dismay with the recent
developments where babies as young as nine months are raped. What is this? Have we descended to the deepest moral abyss where not even
animals can reach? Not even dogs or
pigs sexually molest their young.
Can’t
we, as the entire society, eradicate this nightmare, because in the midst of
this moral crisis, everything we do or say, any discourse on elegant economic,
political and social theories – be they Marxism or Black Consciousness – sound
so hollow and irrelevant? In
particular, can’t we as men, restore our honour and status in our society, such
that our women, wives, sisters, daughters and babies can feel safe in our
presence? Can’t we be fathers again, so
that the woman who described our society as fatherless the other day, can be
proved wrong?
The second matter is statism
– that attitude of mind that says the state will provide everything. Of course, the state, with its enormous
resources, should play a leading and dominant role in the development of the
country and in the provision of service. It is particularly imperative in our own country
where the state has over a long period in our recent history, oppressed and
deliberately under-developed the majority of its citizens, that the state
should play that crucial developmental, uplifting and empowering role.
But it should not mean as
the state plays the role, society should be demobilised, become helpless and
depend entirely on the state for its development. It appears this is in fact
what is happening in our country.
At one time, the Black
Consciousness Movement was a pioneer in community development initiatives.
Under oppressive, antagonistic and hostile state machinery, we were right there
in the midst of our people with community development projects. Now, under a
state that is at worst benign, we have no community development initiatives of
note. In fact we have moved to the dim margins of our communities, engaging
ourselves in esoteric discourses that have no practical connection with what
our people are grappling with on a daily basis. Instead of doing more with our
community, under the present political arrangement, we are doing less or
nothing.
Prior to 1994, we had no
democracy in our country. We may all be forgiven for having had high
expectation of what it can do. But having lived under it for seven years, we
now know that attaining democracy does necessary mean that you will also have
safety, employment, social services or economic advancement. That’s where
statism can become a fatal disease, and that’s why we may need to put it on our
national agenda.
The third item is the
inferiority complex of Black people which almost all of us seem to have
accepted as a fact of life. AZAPO and the rest of Black Consciousness Movement
family, as Black Consciousness proponents in the country, must accept greater
responsibility for this.
In this country at the
moment, Black people are good for nothing. They can’t do anything without being
affirmed, helped and guided.
We can’t get into the rugby,
cricket, hockey or other national teams without being condoned.
We must be affirmed to
occupy important positions in business concerns, even then, we must be trained
first. In fact, wherever you see a Black person, he or she is a candidate for
training before she or he can do anything. We are put in positions not because
we are qualified and competent, but because we need to be affirmed and
employers need to satisfy the employment Equity Act.
Black teachers and other
professionals are not good enough. In fact, you only send your children to Black
schools where they would be taught by Black teachers if you can’t help it.
Black kids do not do well in
Maths and Science. They need remedial measures. They need to be helped. You
need special programmes to enable them to pass. The list goes on.
Yet it is all a huge heap of
bull dust. We are not this mass of people who can’t do anything. Of course we
need to be trained like everybody else, but we are not a special case. We
should stop contributing to our own put down.
We are capable of doing
anything and everything that anybody else does on this world
We
in AZAPO must take the lead in promoting cohession, solidarity, self-worth,
self-belief and pride in ourselves. But
Black people as a whole, irrespective of political affiliation, ought to attend
to this and the other two points raised here.
The AZAPO Congress held in
Durban last year, charged us with a responsibility to debate, ventilate and
grapple with issues of national importance.
The papers that are to be presented at this National Council were
selected by your Standing Committee, at the request of the Central Committee,
with a clear understanding that they satisfy the requirements and spirit of
this organ.
Goodluck and happy
deliberations!
01/12/ 2001