Sobukwe’s statesmanship would have guided SA along a different path

I’m no politician, but what I can attest to is that I’m a pan Africanist.

Every nation from time to time yields a truly courageous and visionary patriot who stands apart from the rest.

From ANC Youth League secretary-general to the 1949 programme of action, formation of the PAC, the black consciousness movement — these were all rooted in Mangaliso Sobukwe’s culture and values.

In any other society, these contributions by a single individual, based on profound knowledge, vision and unwavering defiance, would be a source of pride and celebration.

Sobukwe was a national leader rather than a party politician. Nobody knows what choices he would have made, had he lived another 40 years or more.

But from where I’m standing I can fully predict his brand of Pan Africanism would have grown by double digits, a better political settlement would have been reached and much earlier.

Black attitudes and mental states would have been a lot different.

Taxpayers’ money would have been used for developmental needs rather than to keep conceptualising the legacy of apartheid without bringing real alternatives.

State owned enterprises are sinking and some have been sold, infrastructure is on its knees, workers are being abused and underpaid, the land issue hasn’t been resolved, and 30 years later we still remain the world’s most unequal society.

Given such a situation, Sobukwe would have compelled stakeholders to steer SA towards a situation where the economy grows by double digits, industries flourish and people get jobs.

Be that as it may, Sobukwe is gone having made his mark; it is up to us to seize the moment. “And every generation must out of relative obscurity discover its mission, betray it or fulfil it”.