Cliff Richard’s words have been coming to mind of late, given the state of nonracialism and national unity in SA: “We turned water into wine but that didn’t last; we were the victims of our age.”
Listening to SABC journalists twittering away at Pravin Gordhan’s funeral that he was “just another white capitalist”, or former public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane claiming that people of Indian descent “have positioned themselves as my persecutors” has led many to wonder whether nonracialism has run its course in SA.
We turned the water of apartheid into the wine of a united democracy. This miracle was already maturing in the belly of the racist beast when we marched together, campaigned against conscription, shared the confines of prison cells and long journeys on buses to funerals and rallies, did the toyi-toyi in camps or in the streets, and lost loved ones in the name of the struggle.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu blessed us with the appellation of the rainbow nation, and we extolled the reconciliation of Nelson Mandela. Drawing from the ancient wisdom of the Khoisan language of the /Xam people we inscribed into our coat of arms “ǃke e: ǀxarra ǁke”, proclaiming that we are a diverse people united.
All of us — black, white and different shades of brown — flew on the wings of the uplifting rhetoric of Thabo Mbeki’s speech at the May 1996 adoption of the new constitution, in which it was confirmed that we are all Africans, taking personally the line “that none dare challenge me when I say — I am an African!”.
Nonracialism is a principle the ANC under the leaderships of Albert Luthuli, Oliver Tambo and Cyril Ramaphosa fought hard for — within its own ranks, in its debates with other anti-apartheid movements, as well as in its fight against apartheid, and ensured that it is enshrined in our democratic constitution.
Nonracialism has been so successfully written into our nation’s DNA that opposition parties have to cloak policies that privilege the position of a particular race in the name of nonracialism.
Were we just the victims of our age? Did the wine not last? Was that why it was easy during the July 2021 uprising for instigators to whip thousands of people into a frenzy, to loot wantonly and attack brutally, inhumanely and fatally?
Is that why the gatekeepers of political parties use race as the first criterion for excluding certain people to be elected to their structures? Is that why the toxic masculinity of the melatonin-deprived comes so easily to the fore — be it in corporate boardrooms or in the traffic? Is that why the plight of the vast majority of Africans — as they live in the stench of ongoing poverty, hunger and poor service delivery — does not affect the more privileged in our society?
It is not only for ideological reasons that we have to remind ourselves that SA’s inequality is racially defined. Black households hold only about 1% of the wealth held by white households, while coloured and Asian/Indian households hold respectively 12% and 63%, according to SA academics Samson Mbewe and Ingrid Woolard.
We have to remind ourselves of this stark reality so that we appreciate that no amount of grandstanding in the name of social cohesion will fundamentally reunite us as a nation. It must spur us to prioritise the wellbeing of all who live within the borders of this country.
While the chirping of a disgraced former public protector or a few immature journalists is a matter of concern, we should be more concerned with the seeming Sisyphean task of pushing up the boulder of crushing suffering, so that we reach the promised land of Tutu and Mandela.
It also needs the kind of dignity and recommitment to nonracialism we saw on display at the many events attended by thousands people of all races as the nation said its final farewells to Gordhan.
Otherwise, to paraphrase Cliff Richard, we would be guilty of forgetting to feed the fire, to let it all burn down, and warmth return to cold.
• Abba Omar is director of operations at the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection.
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