The ‘monster’ that is destroying SA

THIS is the time we remember June 16 and the surrounding events, when youngsters stood up and made their voices heard against, and in spite of a monster, the murderous apartheid government. It is a heroic story, an inspirational story.

However, today we are facing several social and economic monsters in South Africa under, ... er ... a “new” government. One of the them is the high level of unemployment. It is attached to the state of our education, both in terms of its quality and its relevance.

This monster alone causes untold destruction as it produces a number of other social ills associated with a youth which is not sufficiently skilled, doing very little productive work and thus likely to be involved in crime.

These activities range from theft, drug use to murder and rape.

This is a monster we are facing as individuals, families, communities and as a nation.

However, we also face the silent problem of dysfunctional families. So in the place where youngsters need to be socialised and taught basic social behaviour, we have huge gaps forming. These ills are also attached to the history of subjugation in one way or the other.

There is another monster that really makes me shiver because it is not as visible as the others. This is the monster of the acceptability of poor standards in our society. This is the monster that makes it acceptable for members of society to engage in crime in full view of others and be protected by those who see them, simply because it has become acceptable that umntu uyazizamela (people are making an effort to make a living).

This is the monster that makes it acceptable for those in positions of power to use such power to ukuzizamela.

Think Nkandla and all of the other despicable activities of those who abuse power. It is the same monster that makes it almost a crime to stand up and say “This is unacceptable!” because such a stand makes one look like someone who does not “understand”.

Yet the consistent result of this behaviour is to render useless every other effort to uplift all people fairly. What it consistently does, is to lift a few people above the “poor and powerless”. It is ironic that this very notion which is becoming acceptable in our society, is responsible for destroying our very society. When a person sees blatant theft, they don’t say a thing for fear of being branded with names and/or blood.

How afraid are we?

If we allow fear to dominate us, how will we find refuge in a society which is being overtaken by people who succumb to the uninformed idea that umntu uyazizamela?

By being involved with this monster, adults who should be providing clear examples of how to live productively, leave absolutely no productive heritage for those who come after them. This is condemning our youth to a life inspired by ukuzizamela, where everything is about self and never about what’s beyond self?

I truly hope the youth will learn to stand up and challenge this crude idea, and replace it with the idea that if I live an upright, productive life and share that heritage, I have done much more than lay claim to millions in ill-gotten rands!

Bantu Mniki is from Dutywa