Stay vigilant on education – history tends to repeat itself

Sandile Dikeni

It is 40 years since that awful day in the Seventies. It is common knowledge that all South Africans do not want it repeated. It is not only the youth of 1976 that do not want to see a repeat of that moment.

It is cool not to see a repeat of that moment. Let us then plead that the education authorities who obviously were youth then recall the moment and strive with us to pace away from that memory. There is a vibe that I can read in the country that wishes us away from that memory. Let’s make that vibe a reality. We can! The attempt here is to say we shall be vigilant as society. The hope here is also that we should be vigilant because history has a tendency to repeat itself.

Praise for the SA democracy, from the international world, can sometimes make us blind to the crude tendencies of a sociological environment that boasts a democracy, but this is unable to make interpretations that help us sustain that essence.

Our society is positive, but it is not really difficult to see how the narrow interpretations can influence our mainstream. True, many times in the past, we took our debates to the street to make points that were not allowed in the debate and discourse moments in Parliament, and the academic institutions.

It is not only this country that has the inability to listen to itself at this time. It is a world tendency to lose the ear of self during this time. People all over the globe do have a tendency to be blind to reason that speaks a language deeper than the shallow tendencies of a “new year vibe”. The plea is that we abstain from that.

I remember how, in the Eighties and early Nineties, I became depressed at this time of the year because of the uncertainties of the beginning of a year. I have slowly learnt to know that my depression was not necessary because of the many interesting discourses that this country possesses. It is open secret that there are many who are still not really comfortable or confident with the many, sometimes obscure, tendencies of a beginning, but hey, before a kid can run, he/she must first crawl.

This country is in its infancy. Twentysomething years of freedom is not comparable to the centuries of racial orthodoxy. Be patient. But avoid orthodoxy and lazy rhetoric that intends to numb reasonable intellect. The road is broader and wider. And, you are an important player in the game.

It is a game, I insist. Life should be viewed, I feel, as a game where all of us play a particular part that decorates our existences with the beauties that decorate life.

I do not properly remember the genesis of the yearly calendar, but I am cool with it. I also know that there are people who think that it is cool that I am around. How do I know, you ask? The many new year wishes that I got were a confirmation that I am not just a Mugu. How do I know this, you ask? I know because I also sent them messages blessing their year. I am a good person.

There are people who did not even think of sending me messages wishing me a good new year, but I am not concerned. I sent them their good wishes because I like to think of myself as a good soul.

It is general knowledge that the world likes me. I have travelled the whole world (I mean, all the continents) and whenever I left them, they wept and bemoaned my leaving. Later on, they came to South Africa. When they don’t come to this country, they send me wishes that are so lekker I like being human.

In the whole world, I think, the most glorious place to be right now is here. I am not saying that arrogantly. I am saying it with conviction and humility. The day after new year, I got caught in Kaapse Klopse groove. I was very serious and aloof, but the klopse would not allow my uninformed arrogance, and they swayed and swung me into a dancing mood. I like that because it does say, in some humble way, that this is going to be a good year.

I like the new year vibe, especially when you have round figures, like 50, in your age. Let me be honest, the 50 mentality is actually an advanced mentality. Actually, I mean it is not a normal mentality. It is a half-century. That, in my humble opinion, is not a small thing.

In some really groovy years, people send me presents and things that, in my humility, I cannot refuse. The new year is a time when we avoid the sad and the bad, and work tirelessly towards the glorious and the majestic. We all know that between Christmas and the new year, the real jol is New Year. Happy New Year, asseblief.