Healing a broken nation

7+( ever-rising statistics of gender-based violence, even after numerous campaigns and the much-celebrated enactment of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence SODV Act, are a serious cause for concern. The latter development was seen as the perfect panacea to the worrying trends of *%V; many were convinced that the tough ramifications that came with this piece of legislation would arrest the situation through the double-edged sword effect of deterrence and punishment.

Two years later, our girls and women are still being raped, beaten and killed while many boys and men suffer in silence. Of course, it will not take two years to rectify social ills of generations but we can be forgiven to have high expectations of a maMor behavioural change in our people after all the interventions that have been made.

This, in my view, points to deeper underlying issues in society that need the attention of everyone, especially our leaders. It is becoming increasingly clear that we are an angry and disillusioned society.

%oth our men and women are struggling in many areas of their lives and are failing to deal with issues. :e are not at all a happy people and our mental health issues are manifesting in destructive behaviours.

In this country, as it is right now, it takes an extremely optimistic person to see any light at the end of the tunnel. :ith the economy performing as badly as it is right now, with the huge ineTuality and poverty, the only light many are seeing is that of an oncoming train.

:hat further compounds that is the glaring lack of vision and a sense of duty within our leadership. :e only see career leaders, hell-bent on keeping their Mobs and are so detached from the suffering of the people. Our leaders have demonstrated a confused and reactionary leadership that has a strong aversion to consultation.

If this state of affairs persists, our problems as a country will spiral out of control.

Socialisation

Our leadership needs to think creatively about how we can foster social cohesion going forward. :e need to see how we can build our country, starting from the primary source of socialisation; the family. The nation can benefit hugely from a µSocial Cohesion Indaba’ that would begin analysing our society from that basic unit of society; the family, to see where we are losing it as nation. From there we can begin to understand, contextually, what makes up a liSwati.

:e will understand the social, cultural and political context that informs our behaviours and attitudes, as citi]ens and leaders. It is then that we can begin to unravel our complex nature and see how that affects us.

I am convinced that such a reflective process would provide answers to so many of our problems. From there we can begin to understand why we have a huge leadership crisis.

:e can understand and dissect the docility in emaSwati that festers the many human rights violations, which take place with impunity.

Perhaps we can also understand why a select few among us feel so entitled to resources that belong all bona fide emaSwati such that they are willing to use all means necessary to reserve them for their exclusive enMoyment. :e can even understand why the life of a liSwati doesn’t seem to matter much in this country. A very good friend of mine is wont to say; “Lelive leli alimati umuntfu”.

It’s a very sad statement that I have reflected on many times and has proven true in many occasions.

The point I am trying to make here is that we need to go back to the basics if we intend fixing our nation. Attempts to fix the economy and politics at the higher level will be an exercise in futility if we ignore the problems at micro level. /et’s focus on building a nation of people who are highly patriotic and who desire to take the country to another level.

:hen our people keep their end of the bargain and work to bulge the tax pool, leaders should reciprocate this with excellence in service delivery.

As a people, we want to feel that we are not second-class citi]ens and that we have a fundamental role to play in nation-building, not Must churners of the resources that are to be enMoyed by a select few, but as citi]ens who should be able to influence the direction of the country. That way, we can breed a happy, prosperous society where social ills such as gender-based violence are so minimal as to be negligible.

Morality cannot be enforced sustainably using law only. There is honestly no excuse for a nation with flowing rivers, fertile lands, mineral resources, fairly educated people, one language, no history of war and a little over a million people should not be the envy of the world.