OPINION judith_february As we approach 8 May and our fifth democratic elections, we are a country fractured and unable to reconcile.
As we approach 8 May and our fifth democratic elections, we are a country fractured and unable to reconcile. We are also one wracked with poverty, unemployment and deep inequality, not to mention battling with the ‘9 wasted years’ of Zuma-led corruption and state capture.
During the #FeesMustFall protests at universities, we heard a younger generation blame Nelson Mandela for 'selling us out' and the Constitution has become the scapegoat for all that is wrong in our society. That argument often ignores the complexities and historical context of the time, as well as the role those in power play in implementing the constitutional promise.
Is it any wonder that our dialogue is brittle and blame is apportioned readily and angrily? When we disagree, we appear to not be listening; we turn up the volume and out-shout the other. Is apartheid to blame for our current ills, someone asserts, or the corruption prevalent across so much of the government? Perhaps it is all the fault of the liberal media? And so it goes on.
As the National Development Plan - that dusty document we seldom refer to anymore - also contends, without a new development trajectory, South Africans will remain unequal, poor and lacking the cohesion necessary to live together peacefully. For we remain stymied by our difference. And violence, whether by state repression at Marikana, xenophobic attacks, or from one citizen to the other , becomes a means of problem solving.
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