South Africa experienced yesterday the drama of the resignation of Mmusi Maimane from the main opposition party in the National Parliament of South Africa. Comments before and during – and even now after the resignation – are a mix of speculations, indications, accusations and controversies – add the resignations of Athol Trollip and Herman Mashaba and one could assume that a political party is in meltdown after a disappointing election result and lots of internal fights in the last year.
What really catches my attention is the bitterness and almost fundamentalism when it comes to the question of race, the question how to attract black South Africans to vote for a party which is portrait in debates and news often as too white. Party politics and the egos of those concerned are surely a factor, but I guess what really bring theses events to the forefront is another question which is indeed a decisive one for the whole of the country:
How do I eliminate the question of race for the future without forgetting the injustices of the past and the necessary redress in the current time?
It sounds like the squaring the circle – but this is the question it boils to at the end. While most political parties in South Africa put their focus on redress and correcting the past – claiming this the only way for the way forward – even if this would create new injustices and hardship – little effort is seen in creating an atmosphere where all three aspects are coming together.
The frustration of most young people, the mood of most South Africans, the hurt of each and every South African in one or the other way, the pitfalls of corruption and state capture; the infighting in all political parties seemingly ignoring the plight of the people – it all creates a conductive scenario for quick fixes satisfying emotions in the short term using the tools of the past.
South Africa will only get it right, if politicians combine redress with a new vocabulary, looking back inter-twining it with striving for a just and non-racist future – creating the miracle of acknowledging hurt and healing in a just framework and creating tools and language, which overcome the perspective of the past without ignoring it.
If this realization is the result of the events of the last days and taken as a challenge for our society – then these events might turn into a blessing for South Africa
Filed under: Politics and Society, Reflection, Society and living environment, South Africa, Africa, Maimane, Mashaba, race, redress, south africa, Tollip
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