Struggle hero longed for non-racial society

I HAPPENED to take a brief tour of eastern Africa on the last leg of my visiting scholarship at the Uganda Technology and Management University.

I found myself at the Kenyan border gate, crossing into Tanzania. My sojourn in eastern Africa was largely inspired by my belief that the path towards finding solutions to the myriad South African societal challenges is through Africa.

I decided to find a platform where, together with my fellow African countrymen and women, we could find ways of recreating an education system that would help in redefining our Africanness within the context of the ever-changing global socio-economic landscape, especially in view of the changes of the political landscape in America.

The East Africa academic platform continues to help me to redefine myself outside the pervasive divisiveness that hinders our country from taking its rightful place in the world.

There I was, in a queue with Tanza- nians, Kenyans, Ugandans, Rwandans (ethnic identity is no more part of the new Rwanda and in some situations, its practice can lead to prosecution) and many other Africans.

When I looked behind, I saw five Masai men dressed in their traditional red and black chequered blankets. Suddenly I felt the urge to take a picture with them. But an inner voice warned me that it would be a wrong move and I could end up being embarrassed as a foreigner.

The delay in stamping our passports, by the stern-faced Kenyan immigration officials, gave me some time to reflect on my thinking about the Masai as a people. I came to realise that my views were largely influenced by the media and that I viewed the Masai as “the others”, hence my thought of taking their photo. I became ashamed of my prejudicial attitude towards my fellow African countrymen. But unlike many other people, I set my thinking right by treating them the same way that I would like them to treat me – I belong to the human race that comes from Africa.

I imagined how Steve Biko would have reacted if he was in the same queue with me. He would definitely not approve of isolating the Masai people, taking a selfie with them and looking at them as “the other people” of Africa.

Biko would be disappointed with the progress that we have made towards creating a non-racial society. In fact, he would vehemently argue that we have abandoned the noble project of recreating a society where people are not defined according to race or colour of their skin.

Our country has embarked on a unique historical journey where we seek to continually build bridges to enable former colonisers to work together with former victims of their oppression, dispossession and exploitation.

Forty years ago, Biko lost his life in pursuit of empowering victims of an inhumane apartheid system. And if he was alive today, he would encour- age all, irrespective of socio-economic standing, to support social engineering programmes aimed at creating a society where racial discrimination is frowned upon in all its manifestations.

The premise of Biko’s argument for working hard to build a non-racial democracy would first be the Freedom Charter, whose preamble states that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white. Biko would implore all to conduct themselves in line with the fundamental principle of equal rights for all. The Freedom Charter boldly states:

There shall be equal status in bodies of state, courts and in schools for all national groups and races.

All people shall have equal right to use their own languages, and to develop their own folk culture and customs.

All groups shall be protected by against insults to their race and pride.

The preaching and practice of national, race or colour discrimination and contempt shall be a punishable crime.

All apartheid laws and practices shall be set aside.

Biko, as an intellectual, would be cognisant of the economic constraints that influence the development and implementation of government policies aimed at addressing inequalities.

At the same time, Biko would not approve the slow pace of restoring the pride and dignity of the previously oppressed under the ANC government. Biko would not take kindly to the revelation that a government entrusted with building a non-racial nation has allowed R100 billion to be lost to corruption and looting of state funds. Biko would demand that those who hold public office and have abused funds meant for the poor be hauled before the courts and give an account for their misdeeds.

In line with Biko’s mission of empowering the previously oppressed, all the funds lost to corruption could have been used to fund massive socio-economic infrastructure aimed at uplifting our people out of poverty.

Biko would shun public discourse framed in racial connotations to ignite hatred between the white Afrikaans people and the black people. He would take exception to the utterance of President Jacob Zuma when he accused the protesters calling for his removal as being influenced by white people.

Biko would be amazed that the ruling party took almost the entire daylight debating whether “monopoly capital” should be qualified with the adjective “white” (simply insinuating that whites should be held responsible for not redistributing wealth of the country).

Biko would seek justice for victims of racial hatred, especially the poor who work on the farms. But he would not generalise and blame every white for being racist. Biko would raise his arms in the small town of Coligny and demand justice for Matlhomola Mosweu without inciting racially inspired violence.

Dr Tutu Faleni (PhD) is a DA Member of the North West Provincial Legislature and writes in

his personal capacity.

He died in pursuit of empowering the victims of apartheid