Apartheid flag fit for the dustbin of history

AS WE grapple with the issue of the notorious old South Africa apartheid flag and its divisive impact on nation-building, we should not forget that the past is dead and is not coming back. The apartheid flag will never represent us again.

The major focus on“Black Monday” distracts us from paying attention to the brutality and violence of man killing man in a new society that we are trying to build.

With all their shortcomings, the farm owners and exploited workers were, in principle, committed to highlighting the violence, murder and theft that is running amok in the land, claiming the lives of those that feed this nation and others.

Above all, the march should be seen for what it was: a “Save Our Souls and Lives” cry from men, women and children who are sick and tired of being murdered.

But the brandishing and waving of the apartheid flag takes us many steps back.

In its unique way, it should teach us to make a distinction between what is our heritage from the past and what is not

It has been said that those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat past mistakes.

There is reason to believe that, except for fringe lunatics, the majority of South African citizens, black and white, know where we come from and do not want to go back there.

For example, on October 10 it was Paul Kruger Day.

But for the past few years, there were almost no Afrikaner people who whipped out their “Vierkleur” to hanker after the days of the old Transvaal Republic.

This speaks of a great number of Afrikaners who have left the past behind and are moving forward to embrace the slow but sure psycho-mental transformation to build a society that belongs to all who live in it.

Thus following the “Bloody Monday” march, all South Africans should take the opportunity to reflect, at an individ- ual and community level, on the significant but difficult life-changing transformation we have been experiencing since the dawn of this new era.

It shows various individuals, organisations, communities and sectors of our society have a positive story to tell about the progress made since 1994 in promoting a spirit of reconciliation and unity.

No matter what the detractors, including those who brandish the old flag, say, this is a different country to what it was before the dawn of democracy.

The abandoning of the apartheid flag and all the racist history it represents is one of the biggest victories we should celebrate today.

In fact, accepting apartheid is dead (sic) making efforts to redefine the soul of this nation, receptiveness to an allembracing identity, promoting a culture of respect for all life – irrespective of a person’s colour, background or creed – and condemning violence, murder, rape and theft should rally us together.

But in some fringe corners, there will always be a few who resist and wish to spoil things by projecting a distorted picture of the nation we are building.

This distraction is what has seen a few citizens wrestle over who belongs to this new nation and who does not.

Difficult and challenging as this is, people must not be discouraged. This, too, shall pass.

This is all part of the process to redefine ourselves to implement the ideals and principles of this constitutional democracy. We have come a long way as a nation. Perhaps it is time we make it clear that the discarded apartheid flag is not and will never be part of our new identity and heritage.

The old flag is part of a tragic history that evokes agony and pain as it represents the legacy of colonialism and apartheid. At the centre of the debate and wrangling about the apartheid flag is the contestation between progressives and verkramptes or conservatives, on what should shape the character and identity of the South Africa we want to build today. Let us be clear that the colonial and apartheid past and its legacy have been defeated and will never, ever come back.

What we witnessed on “Black Monday” is part of the death of the old to make way for the new. It is never easy.

Just like the marking of Republic Day and Paul Kruger Day have since disappeared off the pages of our cultural calendar, the apartheid flag is destined for the dustbin of history. It will, ultimately, die a natural death effected by the strong winds of change sweeping away everything that does not belong to this growing nation.

There is a new way of life and thinking that is being born. It is a process.

We just have to keep our eyes on the prize: we have a bright colourful flag that is one of the most admired and recognis- able in the whole world.

The Black Monday march was not about promoting the old flag or reviving apartheid claptrap. It was about South Africans – black and white, landowners and the dispossessed – who wish to uphold and promote a constitutional democracy that protects all life as sacred.

Rightfully, we should define our future not by what holds us back but that which takes us forward. Focusing on a lunatic fringe does not move us forward.

In fact, we who live today stand at the vast pyramid of African selfdetermination and struggle, slowly but surely accumulated through the many long struggles against colonialism and apartheid.

Let us keep our eyes on the prize and not be distracted by the shenanigans around the old discredited flag. What happened on Black Monday is not about bringing back a dead past.

Different country to what it was before the dawn of democracy

Sandile Memela is a journalist, writer, cultural critic and public servant. He writes in his personal capacity