As the year draws to a close, so do curtains fall on our varied attempts to improve our collective lot as a people. Individually and collectively we start each year with untrammelled enthusiasm, hoping to triumph against the vagaries we are certain to encounter in our pursuit of happiness.
In a couple of days, many of us will descend into that well-known abyss of self-appraisal that often borders on existential questioning. Have we pursued, this year, the dreams that lie deep in the innermost parts of our beings? Have we done the things we know we should do to become the best versions of ourselves? Have we done justice to our own visions? Or, as Daniel Gilbert titled his book, are we on the road to “stumbling on happiness”?
The thing is, all successful people hold themselves accountable for how they manage their own growth.
As many of us introspect and take decisions that we hope will catapult us into the stars in the near future, we should spare a moment to think about our country. For it would make no sense to pop that silver and gold champagne that has become a symbol of success for the nouveau riche when, as a country, we remain in a ditch — junk status.
This week, Stats SA released its Q3 employment report and the reaction was as could have been anticipated. Bloodbath! Horror show! The report showed that the unemployment rate increased (again, yes) to 34.9% from 34.4% in the previous quarter. It is the highest it has ever been.
Many clamoured for decisions to fix the economy. Much of it, sadly, seemed rather a waste of precious air. Our president was in Nigeria before moving on to other African states, going about the normal business of the state. In any case, our beloved president has given us the economic reconstruction and recovery plan. We may know that it is not a plan. Former president Thabo Mbeki calls it a vision. They might quibble, but hey, that’s Ramaphosa’s plan and he’s sticking to it. It’s his way of shutting us off.
We also know that we have the national development plan (NDP 2030), which will not be achieved, at least not in 2030. It required a detailed action plan. But then again, who worries about detail? It’s our national plan. Grand and unattainable though it is. And so, as we make #December trend, and talk all manner of nonsense about drinking and debauchery, we, sadly, become complicit in our misgovernance. We normalise wrong things.
It’s been just over a month since the local government elections. Promises were made. Politicians have received what they wanted. And now things have somewhat reverted to normal. We must, I propose, have an aversion to normal. Normal represents our regression. Normal means whatever has been happening for the last 27 years, which we know has deepened inequality, created generations of unemployed and unemployables, and normalised high crime rates, with police commissioners without post-matric qualifications.
Normal must make us angry. Normal must force us to pause and become active citizens who insist on being heard.
To be fair to diploma-less Khehla Sitole, a few noisy politicians don’t have basic diplomas either. That is how shameful normal is. Normal is anathema to our growth and development. Normal is managing a nation wallowing in pain, in poverty and economic regression and doing nothing. Normal means those people in Soweto without electricity must make peace with not having electricity. Normal means those without jobs must hold on to hope even when we know there is nothing above normal being done to change their situations.
Normal must make us angry. Normal must force us to pause and become active citizens who insist on being heard. Normal must help the people of Soweto — who told Ramaphosa not to campaign in their area because they only see him and his comrades during elections — to understand that they don’t have to wait for him to campaign in 2024. They must organise themselves and go to him. Now. Can you imagine all the disaffected people clogging all routes around Soweto, Thembisa, Seshego, KwaMashu, Khayelitsha and elsewhere, forcing life to a standstill? Forcing the government to talk to them, think about solutions with them, and not just manage their pain? It is the only way. Freedom Day gave us rights on paper.
That’s not enough. Ramaphosa’s economic plan hasn’t worked. It’s not going to change much in the next two or five years. Stats SA numbers show the situation is getting worse. Meanwhile the government is behaving as though our situation is normal. If the poor of this country don’t rise up and demand answers, those ensconced in cushy offices will not feel pushed to do something out of the ordinary to change their lives.
In strategy classes, they tell students that hope is not a strategy. That we must be intentional in our pursuit of strategic objectives. Many of us apply this to our personal lives and in how we run our private enterprises. Yet, where our collective national good is concerned, we want to hold the politicians accountable once in five years.
I am saying that is not enough. If we want to see politicians become our servants, as they ought to be, we must organise protests and interrupt their normal lives, demand change, and be consistent in our expression of outrage. Eventually, something will give. If we don’t do this, we become enablers of our own oppression. Enablers of misgovernance.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.