SA is a nation at war with itself. On Sunday July 10, we once again awoke to news of another national tragedy when reports surfaced that more than 20 people lost their lives in mass shootings at taverns across the country. This came only days after we memorialised the deaths of 21 teenagers killed at the Enyobeni tavern and as we reflect on the one-year mark of the July riots.
Ours is a country on the brink of collapse. People are traumatised by the burdens of rising unemployment and untenably high rates of inequality. We are succumbing to malnutrition and experiencing rolling blackouts. We are overcome with despair and turn against each other in response to our distress.
Where will hope for a better future in SA come from?
The soul of our nation is under threat and anyone who cares about creating a safe, just, free and more equal country must be willing to engage in a new war: a battle for the soul of SA. We must not fall prey to the worst of us and challenge ourselves and each other to step up to be the best versions of ourselves. The future depends on it.
The future depends on an understanding that we the people of SA matter. SA is not the state, its symbols or its public representatives. SA is her people. As such, the soul of the country is not in its institutions but in communities.
Political analyst Lukhona Mnguni says communities who have organised themselves carry SA and keep it working under the strain of government failures. Our greatest hope comes from the unseen and unspoken work communities do to keep local economies moving, to practise economies of care, to mobilise resistance to injustice and create new solutions to our biggest problems.
Some of these communities are a reminder that we may be on our own when we consider the failures of the government, but together we can turn resilience into hope, and hope into action.
Axolile Notywala, 32, and The Movement for Care in Khayelitsha and on the Cape Flats are committed to curtailing racial inequality through radical municipalism. A community pooling their own resources to host capacity building on how to engage in local government activism. It prepares people to take action for accountability and to contest local elections as independent candidates. The Movement for Care is committed to unlearning unproductive politics and governance and empowering positive activism and competent public representatives for the future.
This is reminiscent of the ideals of Tshiamo Malatji, 24, a Bloemfontein anarchist organiser who has, with people in his community, launched a community arts centre and market. Tshiamo believes in positive activism that taps into community power to drive change. Their collective is working on new low-cost building methods and communal food gardens to address housing and food insecurity. Tshi, as he is locally known, has also stood for local government elections because he understands that it's not enough to create power outside the state when state resources could be used better for the collective good.
Social activism is not dead. At least not in Soweto, where Nomsa Mazwai, 35, and fellow organisers of the #FunkItImWalking movement hold weekly meetings to do Saturday clean-up campaigns and Thursday night walks in efforts to reclaim the streets of Soweto and create a safer environment.
Nomsa and her teams are motivated to create townships free from crime and fear and for people to once again be productive and creative. They are not waiting for political actors to change things and, even with no resources, have taken on the responsibility of creating the future they want.
As is the One Newlands East Community convened by Lawrence Palmer, 51, and a group of local activists in Durban, who have for years kept activism alive with no resources but a lot of commitment. In partnership with the Rivonia Circle, local activists concerned about youth apathy and young people caught up in destructive behaviour hosted a youth movie event that led to a discussion about youth activism. They held a Democracy Builder workshop with more than 70 young people to enable civic participation by youth. The Newlands East activists are not only taking charge of the future. They are also preparing the youth to lead us into the future.
There are hundreds of similar stories across the country. Thousands of local organisers and activists are driving change, putting in millions in minutes in their endless commitment to planting seeds not only of hope, but also of a new politics of action and change.
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.