No messiah will fix SA’s problems, says Fikeni

Political analyst Dr Somadoda Fikeni has warned South Africans not to expect a messiah to swoop down and fix the country’s problems.

Instead, everyone needs to come together to try and find solutions.

The scholar, delivering a 50year commemorative lecture on the life and times of Ngubethole Bam, asked South Africans to take a long hard look at themselves, saying unlike in other countries where entrepreneurs thrive, people in SA are consumed with jealousy and instead of supporting one another, pull each other down.

Bam was a black pioneer who alongside his brothers, operated the first black bus services which operated on several routes in the former Transkei region in the 1940s.

The lecture, held at the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital’s Resource Centre in Mthatha, was attended by UDM MP Mncedisi Filtane, Walter Sisulu University chancellor Dr Brigalia Bam and AmaQwathi Royal Council spokesperson Prince Dabulingwe Ndzima.

Ngubethole was a cousin of Brigalia and the father of ANC MP Vatiswa Bam-Mugwanya.

“No [President Cyril] Ramaphosa will come and solve our problems. No [EFF leader Julius] Malema will come and rescue us.

“There is no messianic leader who will get rid of our problems,” Fikeni said.

In his wide-ranging address, Fikeni lamented that only politicians were being honoured in SA.

He described Bam as an African entrepreneur, visionary, pioneer and trailblazer, adding people like him had played a crucial role in the liberation struggle as buses had also been used for courier services but people like Bam were dying in anonymity.

“A politician get hits by a car, and we say let’s lend his name to a street.

“The problem starts with us forgetting to tell stories of people like utat’u Ngubethole,” Fikeni said.

“Scholars and religious leaders should also be honoured for their role in the struggle for liberation. Politics is not the only game in town.”

Turning his attention to problems faced by the country, Fikeni argued that many leaders were detached from the communities they led.

He believes talented black business leaders like Bam had been replaced by tenderpreneurs.

“Tendrepreneurship is not a skill, it is just opportunism,” he said.

Fikeni called on South Africans to define national interests and work together on them.

Bam’s nephew, Madala Khoza Bam, said his uncle had a huge gift as a nation builder and visionary.

Brigalia said it was important to acknowledge the feats of people like Ngubethole.