Our abnormal society can change through rebellion or in a planned way, but no messiah can save us

There were many times in the past week when people across our nation questioned what was wrong with SA and wondered where leadership would come from. I know I did. The war on women and rampage against foreign nationals are not new. They are driven by ingrained evil and violence in our society that occasionally manifest in incidents that draw mass public attention and outrage. Shame has now boiled over.

Through her rape and murder, 19-year-old student Uyinene Mrwetyana lent her image to us so that our nation could put a face to the horror.

There are thousands of women like her whose lives are stolen by the men who feel entitled to abuse, rape and kill. Their suffering is abstract.

Uyinene’s murder pulled us to the tipping point, forcing us to speak, to act and to witness the pain.

Mass protests and xenophobic violence caused embarrassment for President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government during the World Economic Forum on Africa, and on Thursday he was finally dragged out of his comfort zone to face the nation.

Still, his words and those of other party leaders failed to provide solace and direction. We are beyond the point of promises to fix the bureaucracy.

Even EFF leader Julius Malema’s gaslighting, trying to refocus the violence against white people rather than foreign nationals, fell flat.

The moral decay has gone too far and South Africans are exhausted.

On Wednesday, former president Kgalema Motlanthe and former Chilean president Ricardo Lagos were in a dialogue at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg about the transitions in our respective

countries, and their ideas for the way ahead.

Lagos is part of The Elders, a global group of elder statesmen, pro-democracy activists and human rights champions. Motlanthe is, as always, a quiet voice of reason and rationality. His foundation is working to promote collaboration and innovation in society, particularly to help the Ramaphosa administration stimulate inclusive growth.

Both leaders advised that democracies and policies need to adapt to changes in society.

Lagos made the point that leaders could not be steadfast about ideology and policy when people in their countries are unhappy and rebelling. He said a democracy that delivers is one that listens and takes care of its people.

“Democracy has to change so fast otherwise people will go for populism,” Lagos said.

Motlanthe spoke of mistakes and omissions during SA’s transition, including not having a law of application to give effect to section 25 of the constitution, which deals with the redistribution of land. He said it was also a mistake to demarcate the country’s provinces along the borders of the former homelands, importing ethnic and tribal divisions into the post-democracy era.

The politics of identity “does not help the quest for nation building”, Motlanthe said.

He pointed out that the first administration in 1994 was a government of national unity, comprising all parties that gained more than 5% in the election. Now, he said, we have resorted to the pre-1994 state.

I asked him afterwards what he meant by this and whether he was advocating another multiparty government.

I was trying to imagine what Ramaphosa would do in a government that included Malema and DA leader Mmusi Maimane, when the president is barely coherent now, trying to incorporate all the ANC’s conflicting positions.

Motlanthe said the first government was founded on the principle that political parties and society needed to work together in the national interest. He said that had been lost and, as a result, our society is on a collision course.

“Ranjeni, I have never believed in messiahs and I still don’t.” Motlanthe is the greatest ally Ramaphosa could ask for but he was making a profound point about the high expectations on the president to deliver us out of the morass.

In a week of turmoil and despair, it was apparent more than ever that our country is sorely in need of leadership and change, but that it could not come from the president.

Ramaphosa does not seem to have the mettle to lead the way in a time of deep crisis. He does not have a team around him that can read the room, and is therefore constantly on the back foot and fighting fires. The government has no money and does not implement the measures he announces.

Our national security is constantly undermined and yet there is no priority attention on building credible intelligence services.

It is apparent that conventional politics is outdated and failing. Around the world, societies are in a state of upheaval and people are revolting against the establishment.

The question is whether change comes in a structured way or through a rebellion, possibly stoked by the president’s adversaries.

Whatever happens, the reliance on saviour politicians needs to break and civil society needs to be emboldened and engaged.

Something snapped this week. Out of the anger and gloom we must fight to protect ourselves and our country from predators.

Uyinene’s final, painful message to us is that there is no safety in an abnormal society.