|
were visibly disgusted by the driver’s plain
boorishness, none of us lifted a finger as the taxi driver
was verbally abusing a woman old enough to be his mother.
Secondly, as contemptuous as it may have been, our driver’s
behavior wasn’t really a product of the taxi industry, but
rather a reflection of a broader mentality that pervades the
black community.
For instance, as a black person, if you enter any
supermarket or clothing retailer, you instinctively know
that you are more likely to get shoddy treatment from a
black cashier or the black security guard will become more
alert when you walk in as opposed to when a person of
another colour walks in.
In the public service, we all know that black public
servants are more likely to treat each other or their black
clients with naked contempt. In fact, even respected blacks
who occupy senior positions in politics, business and
academia show the same level of contempt towards their black
colleagues or those they are expected to serve.
So even though we are the biggest economy on the continent
and are about to host the biggest football showpiece in the
world, blackness in South Africa continues to be synonymous
with crime, corruption, laziness, poor service delivery,
academic mediocrity, diseases and poverty. This negative
image of black people persists not only because blacks lack
group consciousness and solidarity, but also because black
people are yearning for a leadership that will boldly take
up the issues that face them.
Therefore, the disdainful attitude of our taxi driver on
that morning is no different from the attitude that most of
us in the black community display towards one another. |
And contrary to popular perception, this
mentality is equally prevalent amongst the more educated
sections of the black community.
While the impact of colonialism and white racism on the
psyche of the black people can never be undermined, we must
however reach a point where we also accept that, in the
manner that we continue to treat each other, we are
perpetuating the intentions of colonialism and white racism.
And until we honestly confront this phenomenon, we won’t be
able to do much to change the attitudes of our brothers in
the taxi industry.
· And
who said that Black Consciousness had run its full cycle?
Please read Steve Biko’s Essay,
We
Blacks, to
understand this way of thinking even more — Ed.
THE NATIONAL
ANTHEM DEBATE: PERSONAL REFLECTIONS
One listened with interest at the interview
by Tsiki Mgabadeli and Sibongile Khumalo on problems she,
Sibongile, was experiencing with, apparently, the so-called
National Anthem of the country. There was also a reference
to the topic by Lizeka Mda in her City Press article.
For some people, the issue dates back before the 1994
political dispensation, which brought this version of the
Anthem along. We understood and still understand what
Langenhoven meant when he wrote:”Uit die blou van onse hemel,
uit die diepte van onse see”. Such arrogance! He was merely
bellowing their conquest over us and hailing the theft of
our land, sealed in 1910 by the British. |
In 2000, I was a guest speaker at an AZAPO Central Committee
event at Shaft 17, Crown Mines. In my address, I raised my
discomfort with the present Anthem, particularly the
inclusion of parts of Die Stem. I told the audience that the
lyrics of Die Stem undermined the aspirations of the black
people of our country. I also complained that the Anthem
used only four out of 11 languages of our country! Regarding
the latter complaint, I mentioned that the Anthem could be
sung in ALL languages simultaneously ...to the same tune!
The latter part of my submission should not be read as a
compromise. The National Anthem, as it stands, needs to be
revisited. In my view, it should not be the anthem of Our
country. A clean new Anthem should have been commissioned to
usher in the new nation, the reborn country, as has happened
in most countries on their gaining independence. And I
mention this with due respect to Sontonga, the composer of
Nkosi Sikelel’ Afrika, which was done for the Methodist
Church (Black) as a hymn.
We have a long way to go, but these are some of the results
of a negotiated settlement.
FIRST 100 DAYS IN
OFFICE AND SERVICE DELIVERY
The First 100 days in Office is a controversial American
concept. It came about during the 1933 reign of Franklin
Roosevelt with the object of testing the efficacy of his New
Deal policies in response to the Great Depression and Second
World War. There is no doubt the New Deal got off to a
noticeable effect, though overall it failed to resolve the
Depression. Therein lies the bad omen. |
The 100 Days merely amounted to a huge public relations
exercise for Roosevelt, but the overall failure of the New
Deal led to the decline of his short-lived political
prestige.
Not to be outdone by big brother America, the ANC-led
government has hoodwinked everyone – including the media –
by embarking on this futile exercise. As a result, some
believe President Jacob Zuma’s First 100 Days were a
success. How so? He is said to smile at the slightest
available opportunity and shake hands with everyone. He
sings and dances to entertain crowds. He is a listening
President because he organises izimbizo where the people
ventilate about their suffering and miseries while he
listens. He has even organised a dedicated line, goes the
boasting, where the poor and needy could cry on while he
listens.
The ruling party does not get it. The people are sick and
tired of being “listened” to for long 15 years by an earless
government. What is it they want to hear now, that they
could not hear in the past 15 years of starvation and
homelessness? What our people need is a doing and working
government rather than the one with just earphones on.
Service delivery protests have engulfed the country nonstop
for more than 3½ years. Even if this government was hard at
hearing, with their gigantic eyes they should be able to see
the fires and stones.
A Minister who supposedly grew up under poverty and mekhukhu
went on a fact-finding mission. He apparently had forgotten
the experience, and so he decided to sleep in a shack. This
was mocking the intelligence of our people by “sleeping” in
a shack for a few hours when our people are condemned to
them for a lifetime. It is as though the ruling party’s
election manifesto went missing from the shelves. |
