It is ironic that the South African government does not learn from history despite its intention to make “History” a compulsory subject at schools from 2023 in grades 10 to 12 as recommended by the History Ministerial Task Team.
One would expect a government that values history to learn from the lessons of the past. Lo and behold, the government, and to some extent the traditional authorities and church leaders in SA do not learn from history.
A historian would reckon: History undertakes to record the transactions of the past, to inform the present, for the instruction of the future. This gives humankind an opportunity to learn practical lessons and avoid or mitigate the mistakes of the past in the present and the future. But not with the South African government, some traditional authorities and church leaders.
The handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in SA, as well as disputes over kingships and church succession are just three cases in point. With the Covid-19 outbreak, the government had time to prepare for the pandemic between the first recorded instance in Wuhan to the announcement of lockdown in March 2020.
However, the government did nothing until the virus ravaged our society. We first saw it as a Chinese or European problem, until the statistics became people we know. Now we are sitting with that Chinese or European problem – with no solution. In addressing the situation, government never bothered to open archives or history books as windows into the past to see how similar environments were dealt with.
After the first wave, the government went back to sleep and put up a “do not disturb” sign. When it woke up, it had learnt nothing from the recent history of the first wave, but dreamt about lotto numbers. As a result, the second wave killed more people than the first. one.
When the Delta variant hit India, just as in the case of patient zero, we were assured by the government through the mouth of the president and minister of health that everything was under control. Again, they were not learning from recent history. As a result, vessels from India were allowed to dock at our ports.
Now we are told the Delta variant is the one spreading rapidly in the country, with Gauteng as the epicentre. The same mistake is being committed by traditional authorities and church leaders in SA. It would seem they too, like their government, do not learn from history – or perhaps they do learn but choose to push their own agendas.
We are witnessing the same patterns in the Zulu Kingdom, the Bapedi Kingdom, and the Modjadji dynasty, where someone wants to change the course of history. There are also disputes about leadership in some churches.
We have not learnt any lessons from any historical events as we are reactionaries. One wonders why leaders do not appoint and inaugurate a crown prince while they are still alive so that there is no dispute after death. One wonders why the government makes the subject History compulsory when it does not take lessons from history seriously. Is it for just for control or ceremonial purposes?
History will judge this government badly.
• Ngoepe is a Sowetan reader
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.