I have been trying to find the moment when cynicism replaced my hope about the future of South Africa.
Was it when the grassroots Reconstruction and Development Plan (RDP) was replaced by the global finance-demanded Growth, Employment and Redistribution (Gear) policy in 1996? Was it the 1999 Arms Deal? Was it the imprisonment of Tony Yengeni in 2006 for bribery and corruption? There are several other key moments I can think of which drove many from hope to cynicism.
The place-holder moment for my anger and cynicism is when on May 10, 1996, FW de Klerk announced that his party would be leaving the Government of National Unity. Despite the new Constitution not accommodating a GNU, a responsibility rested on the shoulders of Mandela and De Klerk to continue leading a complex and perilous leadership journey to build a new South Africa.
They had a duty to rise above the pressures of their parties and their respective histories to demonstrate the required political judgement, quoting Otto von Bismarck: “To hear the distant hoof beat of the horses of history and then leaping to catch the passing horseman by the coattails.” Both failed to do so and today we are a country facing an intractable future of long-term hardship and possible unimaginable ruin.
When De Klerk on June 3, 1996, explained the National Party’s decision to withdraw from the Government of National Unity, it was a knife stab into the rib cage of our young democracy. The GNU had three years of important work left to lead in forging a new country. By abandoning that work, De Klerk reneged on his pledge to the people of SA to co-parent and co-inspire the hopes of 43 million people.
Mandela, De Klerk and Mbeki misjudged the hoof beats of the horses of history in June 1996. Their failure to remain committed to a battle-scarred unity for the sake of the greater good birthed the factionalism and fatalism we face today.
Did Mbeki fear the friendship between Mandela and De Klerk? Were Mandela and De Klerk’s realpolitik a threat to the brand of intellectual nationalism that Mbeki led with during his own presidency?
Twenty-seven years later, almost to the day, we sit with a country that has shattered every belief we had that we would be better than our fears. Every racist demon and innuendo about black people has been resurrected around the suburban braai fires. Every stereotype of white racism and elitism is back in black conversations.
The fact that Mandela exited the leadership stage at almost the same time as De Klerk and handed the country to Mbeki while he travelled the world, birthed the fractured future we have today. With De Klerk leaving the GNU and Mandela exiting active leadership of the new South Africa, we were abandoned to an uncertain future by its two most important architects. Every other president since has failed to resurrect our hopes and has only flirted with our aspirations of becoming a great country.
Today we face becoming a mass grave with 60 million names on it. Despite Souh Africa being a naturally wonderful country, the psychological damage we suffered on June 3, 1996, was severe. History has indelible moments that cannot be missed. Those who do miss those opportunities plunge those who follow them into an abyss. It is a long road back to dig ourselves out of that missed moment.
We made a promise to ourselves to overcome the bitter divisions of the past. Now, all we talk about are our bitter divisions. Instead of celebrating a better life together, we are slowly being buried together. A future betrayed, a cynicism born.
* Lorenzo A Davids.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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