In South Africa, there are incredible opportunities for empowering the majority, and it all starts with seriousness about building an economy and a better life. It continues with pursuing education and learning how to be competitive with the rest of the world. The majority must use Western tools, Western business concepts, and Western agricultural techniques.
By rejecting Western resources and concepts, the majority in South Africa remain static in a bowl of poverty and non-advancement. The majority must embrace all of the positive aspects of Western business practices and mechanisms, and do so quickly, disregarding the parts the people do not need and make the ones which are needed a unique South African brand.
Talking and hearing about the evil Westerners does not help; all it gains is isolation, crime, poverty, and hardship, for no apparent reason other than a mass conspiracy against black people. The majority must get over their self-centeredness and understand that the world does not revolve around black people.
The time is now to start empowering in order to move into a better future. If this is not done, the 50 million black South Africans will slip another generation behind more progressive countries, and the results could be devastating. It is time to make choices, start businesses, move forward and stop complaining. The majority must craft the Western bowl and make it uniquely African, so that all may eat from it, and there is fruit for all.
The black Africans who are trying desperately to reconstruct or redefine the African history should stop and look at the future. A black man in Gauteng spent months researching the invention of the laptop, and concluded that an ancient African tribe invented the first laptop. A painting or sculpture was produced to prove the story. Spinning wheels and debating over who created what, and desperately attempting to re-write black history, causes the rest of the world to surpass the millions who remain caught up in the past. It is like living the life of a dinosaur; appearing dull and limp, compared to the Africans who have embraced the future without racial lines and who can rejoice as Africans without harboring fear, hate, and self-loathing.
The majority can keep spinning yarns or they can join the real people who are forging a future for South Africa. Businesses are leaving South Africa in droves, and the African National Congress (ANC) government cannot afford to brush this off as insignificant. The long-term consequences are dire for the average person, and that alone should help people to realize that depending on the ANC government to create a future is unreliable. There is a major obstacle to advancement in South Africa, and that is changing jobs, investment, and security. If the majority, along with the ANC government, keeps spinning yarns, then the future is indeed bleak.
The hostile business environment the ANC government has created causes outrage, and that is no solution. It is better to forge ahead and adopt a policy of following a working solution. Take this working solution, turn it into a real South African entity, and embrace the future with confidence. The insults and attack on the dignity of the black man, the white man, the colored, Indian, and Khoi creates a hazy future. The affront will force the different ethnic groups to unite and rise against the foolishness exhibited by the pocket-lining ruling government of South Africa. The future is in the hands of the people who have the power to create something beautiful by moving forward, letting go of the past, and embracing workable solutions.
Opinion by Laura Oneale
Interview with Menzi Solomon Shange
PUBLISHED ON THE GUARDIAN LV TODAY -
Interview with Menzi Solomon Shange