A refreshing month for it is dedicated to beautiful, brave souls of this country
IT’S A bit windy and I assume it must have to do with the fact that the calendar says it is August. August, in South Africa is a month dedicated to women. That is because in the 1950s, South African women of the calibre of Winnie Mandela and Albertina Sisulu went marching in an anti-apartheid move that was supposed to tell the world of their disapproval, not only of racial arrogance, but also of sexism.
Historic evidence of that moment in the 1950s is in my opinion one of the most advanced moments in the political sociology of this country. It is a moment that articulated the South African quest for liberation slightly deeper than a mere response to apartheid and the racial prejudices the country has been known and notorious for.
Besides the women, therefore, let’s agree that August is a windy month in South Africa. I am not a geologist or somebody with a deep knowledge on issues like climatology, but I am also not going to pretend that this month feels climatologically better than December or November. It is not only as windy as the weather guru advises, it is also telling you that if the building at the corner was not there, one would be blown into one of the oceans.
But wind aside, let me hurry to say that I like the South African August for its statement on sexual liberation. Anti-sexism does not mean one does not have sexual feelings or the like… no, it does not! It is only an expression of a sociology that recognises the human equality of men and women.
I grew up knowing that the superiority element that the male tended to exhibit was dicey. But let me say quickly it is not every day that one is likely to meet anti-sexism in the various Xhosa sociologies. Correct me, but methinks that Xhosa traditionalists are patriarchal.
In other words, I suspect the Xhosa anthropology has it that the male has a more noted place in the sociology of the tribe. It is, for instance, not a question of sociological research for me to know that my grandfather had two wives. My father was the child in the second marriage.
In the Xhosa anthropology, I belong to a beautiful and complex tribe, the amaGcina. So does Lindiwe Sisulu. AmaGcina are a very loved and respected (and fabulous) part of the Thembus. And as the sociology of the Thembus will have it, the men do have a “superior” rank in the tribal essences.
I am not trying to argue for the superiority of the Thembu men. Nor do I want to say that sexism (male superiority) is the king driving habit of the Thembu people. But let no one tell you that we are the prime preachers of non-sexism. I do want South Africans to use this month as the prime social moment in deepening consciousness around that negativity called sexism.
Recently, I heard on radio some talks about the ANC and its history. Mind, it is the political discourse of the 1980s that elevated my consciousness from mere party political consciousness to a social polemic that deepened my thinking on power relations. They were having a conversation that was not much of a revelation; the uncomfortable history of the organisation’s inability to boast female presidency.
It is general knowledge that the political sociology of the ANC is anti-sexist (the politics of the UDF is where I was educated) so, it is just a technical matter of time before the country experiences the depths that an ANC moment dressed (excuse the pun) in female garments exhibits.
It is not a secret that the current flurry in the political popularity of the DA was heralded by the roles it gave its female members, while the ANC, as advanced as it is, was not that visible in the discourse. Having said that, it is important that the nation be informed of the dialectical materialism that educated us on the existence of a “two-stage theory”. Stage one: national liberation. Stage two: the socio-political consciousness allowed by the liberal space granted by national liberation.
It is in other words a national challenge now for South Africa to spread wings, and using the national voice, to preach to the world the glory possessed in the women discourse. Depending on the social consciousness of developed psychology like South Africa, I do think that I am glad being in this country. I know you do too!
I do not want to sound haughty and arrogant, but I have learnt to know that it is easy to be understood as such. There is, however, a warm thinking in me that the different peoples of this country are an example of what the world’s majority are striving for.
It is not a difficult thing to wish for. It does, however, expect the participant to be superconscious of the ultimate achievement within reach. The many ethnic notions that inform the content of that thing called “South Africanism”. But reality does say that the first people to dance with the reality are women.
It is women who are the first to touch you when you arrive in this world. It is women who do not do this as a valiant act. It is not heroic. It is what women do. And the women in South Africa have an advanced concept of what the world expects from the human concept.
The human being initially takes that as easy. It is true, however, to say that our women are just a fascination in diversity.
I am not arguing for a South African-women superiority, I am convinced that women from the rest of the continent have things to show in their world concepts, but I just think that Lillian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Winnie Mandela, Albertina Sisulu, Adelaide Tambo, Graça Machel – the list is long and beautiful – are noteworthy. I know this is gonna be a beautiful month. You know I am just a poet, but I am now wishing I was not limited to poetry. I wish I could be somebody with the powers to lengthen the months.
And then I would lengthen August a tiny bit so that I could entertain many women. Doing that would afford me many friends. Having many friends enables you not to hear the howling of the many winds in August. The winds decide to keep quiet when women are talking. Why is that? It is one of the many mysteries of womanhood that fascinates me. I have decided that maybe the Lord was not really impressed with Lucifer, and that is why He made them look better than us.
That is also why many times they just happen to think slightly better than some of us. Mind, I said better than some of “us”. I am not included in that “us”. How could I? General knowledge does tell that I am a bit broad in thought, and the reason why many women like me is because of the way I use my medulla oblongata. Many girls who separated with me always gossiped to members of my family of how “brilliant” they thought I was. I only said, Heyta da!