The Mahatma never proclaimed himself a saint
An edited version of the keynote address by KZN Human Settlements and Public Works MEC Ravi Pillay at an event in Durban on Monday evening commemorating the life of Mahatma Gandhi
PEOPLE die, but their ideas live on.
I can’t be certain who originally said that, but I want to draw on those sentiments in framing these remarks.
We celebrate the life of an apostle of peace and action on this 30th day of January, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, known universally as the Mahatma.
His ideas about peace, non-violent resistance, the environment, self- reliance and equality dominated the 20th century, influencing many of the prominent political activists of that epoch and long after.
Beyond being a thinker, he was fixated with implementation – advancing the struggle through creative strategies like the Salt March to force the British out.
Indeed, in the preface to the 1872 French edition of Capital, Marx reminds us: “Practice without theory is blind. Theory without practice is sterile.”
Gandhiji taught us that at every moment in history we must sharply frame the questions that confront our society and craft responses to the challenges those questions throw up.
Please allow me to put forward a set of propositions that I respectfully submit should occupy our thinking at the present time.
Firstly, non-violence does not mean non-action. Action requires effort, discipline and indeed sacrifice.
Secondly, in our country and perhaps in KwaZulu-Natal more specifically, there is a toxic overlap between race and inequality.
We can flirt with it, we can skim over it and sometimes I think we need a crisis to be forced to confront it.
That can’t be a very good thing.
Thirdly, in our quest for radical socio-economic transformation, how do we approach economic policy?
Traditionally, as a democratic state and as the ANC in particular, we define ourselves as a disciplined force of the Left.
We have a bias to the poor and look at the balance of forces to determine what action can work.
Fourthly, is social cohesion an academic exercise? What are the cutting issues that we should be putting on the table as we prepare for the forthcoming provincial government social cohesion summit?
We want to come up with a comprehensive programme of action that will reach out to all communities right down to ward level.
That won’t be achieved overnight, but we can set the foundations for a very powerful programme that can indeed bring change and build sustainable defences to the kind of people who want to breed division.
Fifthly, is our history in danger of being overtaken especially since we appear to have been unable to capture the imagination of our youth?
For young people who have no knowledge of struggle, should we not be shaping a new narrative to advance the changes that we want to see?
Sixthly, the Republican administration in the United States is rapidly forging a new order. How do we contest with the rightward shift that erodes civil liberties, social welfare gains and prospectively global peace? How do progressives and the centre left regain lost ground and counterpunch?
Seventhly, what are the tools to guard against slander, disinformation, and this new and frightening phenomenon of fake news. Our task is to lift the debate to a rational and sober level.
Domestically, the elective conference of the ANC in December will usher in a new leadership under the defined constitutional processes of the organisation.
As one of our leaders said, the political noise is bound to increase, expect it as you would expect it in any democracy in any part of the world.
In the months preceding its policy conference, the ANC will put out policy documents.
I encourage organisations such as those gathered here this evening to respond on questions like the economy, non-racialism and unity, and seek to influence those policy decisions.
Gandhi’s influence was phenomenal on people like the Nobel Peace laureates: Dr Martin Luther King jr, President Nelson Mandela, Inkosi Albert Luthuli and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma.
We hope that the lessons he left us are platforms for action.
The Mahatma’s assassination brought an end to his earthly life, but not his ideas. His life and work has come in for considerable criticism.
That is fair game for any man or woman of relevance. If we are silent and disengaged, we will attract no criticism.
Being a person of relevance means getting up on one’s feet, putting one’s shoulder to the wheel, going down on one’s hands and knees when necessary.
The Mahatma never proclaimed himself a saint.
The young Gandhi was a product of the British imperialist milieu, and a class and caste stratified Indian society.
In the process of struggle, he and his ideas evolved into profound expressions of social equality and economic justice.
It is that evolution of thought and deed that compels us to recognise the Mahatma as a man of continuing relevance.