The Es’kia Mphahlele Annual Memorial Lecture

Launched by the University of South Africa (Unisa) in 2009, the Es’kia Mphahlele Annual Memorial Lecture honours the world-renowned novelist, essayist, short-story writer and teacher whose autobiography Down Second Avenue (1959) remains a South African classic.

Born Ezekiel Mphahlele on December 17 1919 in Marabastad, he passed away on October 27 2008 at the age of 89 and was buried in his home township of Lebowakgomo.

Those who attended this year’s event spoke highly of the penman who contributed so immensely to the literary world. The topic for this year’s lecture was Es’kia Mphahlele: An appreciation of an African giant. First to eulogise the late literary paragon was the programme director of the session, political analyst Dr Somadoda Fikeni, who is director: vice chancellor’s projects and advisor to the principal at Unisa.

Fikeni described Mphahlele as “An intellectual giant who was the doyen of literature. He was like a great African elephant that left his giant footprints on the African soil and his intellectual scent on the baobab trees that will live to testify his immortal presence for another 1 000 years. This doyen of African literature truly fits the title of being ‘the dean of African humanism’.”

Explaining the choice of venue, Unisa principal Mandla Makhanya said, “Holding this lecture in Limpopo is Unisa’s firm commitment to spread the footprint of its public engagement to every corner of our society.” Mphahlele’s son Puso said he was grateful that his father left him with the priceless gift of reading. He said, “I spend most of my time in the family library, reading a lot. I also take a book to the toilet and read instead of staring at the walls.

“Everybody wanted me to emulate my father. I couldn’t because he was unsurpassable. At the time of his death, he already had 10 honorary doctorate degrees from around the world. Even the legendary Mahatma Gandhi couldn’t surpass that milestone.” and enter our tertiary sector, 50% of them also drop out.

“Where is our outrage at the pain of the more than four million young people who are unemployed and walking our streets and villages? Where is our outrage at the millions who find solace from humiliation and despair in substance abuse? Where is the outrage against this monumental destruction of the seed of our future by our education and training system?”

Paying tribute

Remembering Mphahlele, Ramphele said the late great was a man ahead of his time.

“Mphahlele could see much further standing on ground level, even though he had no giant shoulders to stand on. But after all, he was a giant. He understood that for us to build a nation, we would have to develop a strong human and social consciousness and move from dependence to interdependence. We must be shapers of our own future.

“In this tribute to Es’kia Mphahlele, I would like to suggest that we have all been lulled into complacency by the political settlement of 1994. We neglected to heed Mphahlele’s advice for us to ‘come to terms with the burden of our history’. I would like to propose that it is time to complement our celebrated 1994 political settlement with a process of ‘coming to terms with the burden of our history.’

“Such a process will enable us to acknowledge the wounds that continue to fester in our society from the impact of colonial conquest, and racist minority governments that legitimised the exploitation of indigenous people through dehumanisation and undermining their history and culture.

“The process would also address the wounds of the perpetuation of economic exclusion of the majority post-1994. The successful conclusion of the process would be an emotional settlement. An emotional settlement would unleash the talents and energies that are essential to a third process: a socioeconomic settlement.”

A way forward

In l ooking towards the future, Ramphele focused on three themes: re-imagining our country’s future, achieving an emotional settlement, and rebuilding our re-imagined country.

Explaining why re-imagining the country is critical to South Africa’s success, she said: “Twenty-two years after our transition to democracy is a good time for us to pause and re-dream ourselves into a future we can be proud of. We need to listen to the growing chorus of young people’s voices. They feel alienated from the dream of 1994. Some go as far as denouncing it as a sell-out that allowed white people to get away with murder — physical and metaphorical. The anger and rage that burst out during public protests cannot be sanitised by pleas for reason.

“It is unreasonable to expect young people to work together with them [white people] to paint a cocreated vision of a re-imagined society that they can co-own and have confidence in. The negative energy in our society is a signal that all is not well. We need to turn our collective gaze towards the horizon to find the inspiration that will enable us to transcend the rut we are in as a society. We need to remind ourselves that we have one of the most beautiful countries in the world that is rich in human, natural and mineral resources. We also need to raise the bar of our imagination and paint a bold picture of an inclusive, prosperous democracy we can all be proud of.”

Confronting the feelings that have been allowed to remain unexpressed is essential, according to Ramphele. An emotional settlement would address the hurt that remains in the country in a way that the democratic