I recently had the opportunity to attend a breakfast seminar hosted by the Ubuntu Foundation. The Guest Speaker was Guy Lundy, a futurist, strategic thinker and economic analyst. You may have read Mr. Lundy’s book South Africa: Reasons to Believe. Or you may be familiar with an email that spread like wildfire all over the world, which was based on a speech he wrote entitled I pledge allegiance. Being new to South Africa, I hadn’t read either of these writings prior to hearing Mr. Lundy’s presentation, South Africa Beyond 2010.
Amidst deepening negative attitudes and sincere concern for the future of this country, it was refreshing to hear a positive perspective on the opportunities that exist for South Africa and its people.
I visited South Africa for the first time in January 2006 to volunteer with a small organisation in the Northwest Province focusing on youth leadership in the context of environmental sustainability. I was in South Africa for a mere three weeks and that’s all it took for me to become enamored with the country.
Back in Canada following that visit, I encountered many South Africans with mixed reviews of their homeland. Some left years ago and vowed never to return, while others were taking time to either explore the West or gain a bit more financial security before returning to the place that will always be home in their hearts.
I have returned to South Africa once again, and even within a short two-year timeframe, I can sense the shift in the current climate of the country. I’ve often been asked by somewhat despondent South Africans what it is I seemingly love about this country and why I would want to be here. My reasoning exists on several levels. Firstly, the beauty and grandeur of this country and its landscape are breathtaking and not easily matched anywhere else in the world. I often think South Africans, and Capetonians in particular, forget to pause to look around and remind themselves of the natural physical beauty that surrounds them. I was told when I first arrived in Cape Town that Table Mountain represents the Heart Chakra of the world (meaning the centre from which happiness, love, compassion, honesty, respect and understanding emanate), and that’s why once people visit here something deep within them becomes attached to this place making it hard to leave, if not in body at least in spirit.
Being from a multicultural country, such as Canada with high immigration, I also have a deep appreciation for South Africa’s cultural diversity and rich history. The music, dance, traditional clothing, cultural practices and heritage are so unique and offer a completely different perspective and experience of life as a South African. I’m also astonished at how South Africa has integrated 11 official languages. Canada has only 2 official languages (English and French), and yet we struggle with equal recognition for both official languages and separatist ideas resulting from the differences of these two cultures. From this perspective, South Africa has done remarkably well to bring 11 official languages to share the forefront.
Finally, contrary to the opinions of many South Africans who believe they must go to Europe or Australia to find opportunities, I believe that South Africa is a country full of opportunities and possibilities. Indeed this is still a developing country, which inevitably means that there remains much room, and a need, for growth and advancements in all sectors. There seems to be so much more opportunity here to create something new, to be entrepreneurial, and to contribute new skills, knowledge or ideas that aren’t yet abundant.
Lundy’s presentation then opened my eyes to more good news for South Africa that I wasn’t aware of. Despite the current challenges, Lundy noted several positive economic trends that should bring a tone of optimism to many disillusioned South Africans:
- South Africa has seen positive GDP growth since 1993;
- Although interest rates have risen in the last few years, they are still far off the high interest rates of ten years ago, and they are not anticipated to rise to those heights again within the next ten years;
- Inflation currently rests at 8% in South Africa, which is still relatively low when measured against the ideal target for inflation of 3-6%;
- South Africa has a growing middle class, currently boasting the most class mobility in the world thanks largely in part to Black Economic Empowerment, Affirmative Action, urbanization and a shift away from apartheid-era Bantu education.
Of course, no discussion of South Africa’s future is complete without reference to the 2010 World Cup. I have to admit that I couldn’t rationalize South Africa as host for this event, and I believed it was irresponsible of the powers that be’ to appoint South Africa as host in the first place. This is not a country that can afford to rebound from a potentially substantial loss of the investment being poured into 2010. And I can’t help but feel that if the US$3-Billion that were being invested in 2010 were instead being invested today in education, job creation, HIV prevention, infrastructure and service-delivery (such as water and electricity), then we could surely see a more prosperous South Africa.
Regardless, 2010 is just around the corner. The hope is that this event will draw the world’s attention to South Africa, which it surely will do. It is also believed that the growing focus of foreign governments and corporate investments in Southern Africa will continue and increase in the years following the World Cup, thus creating, among other things, an infrastructure that hasn’t previously existed. My hope is that if these investments are made, they won’t just serve to benefit the select few who currently reap the rewards, but that they will successfully be felt at grassroots levels as well.
On that note, one distinct point of surprise and dismay to me however, is the overwhelming lack of South Africans helping South Africans. When I first visited the country, one of the things I caught a glimpse of that I admired the most, was the recognition of, and importance placed upon, the collective over the individual particularly coming myself from a society that is all about self-advancement. However, my perspective is different this time around. I don’t see it here anymore. Perhaps extensive corruption and economic concerns are leading people to become very protective of themselves, their own families and their own futures. Maybe a self-preservation mentality is prevailing. But where is the general sense of generosity, of helping your fellow man, of charitable giving? In a country with so much need, and where wealth certainly exists (even if among a small minority), I’m astonished that the systems for giving let alone the desire to help do not readily or abundantly exist.
What brought me back to South Africa this time was my interest in global health and my desire to work in HIV prevention. The reaction I received from South Africans was overwhelmingly positive, consisting largely of people stating that South Africa needs more people like me who are willing to come here to help. This confused me. Why do you need foreigners to come here and help? Why aren’t the very people who are making these statements to me doing their own part to step up and play a role in changing the face of HIV in this country? This is their country after all, and their fellow citizensso why do they not care enough to help? HIV is everyone’s problem it’s my problem as a global citizen, so with rates in South Africa among the highest in the world, it’s certainly every South African’s problem as well.
Flowing from this, what surprises me the most however is individuals’ seeming resolve for the negative circumstances that do exist. There appears to be an overwhelming attitude of I am only one person and there are so many issues; I can’t do anything to change the problems we face.’ But where does that attitude come from? Because the democratic South Africa that exists today certainly wasn’t derived from that thought process. I wonder if it’s because the democracy is still so young that people don’t yet fully know how to exercise their rights and obligations within it? It is every citizen’s responsibility to hold their leaders and people of influence and systems accountable.
I consider the mandate of LoveLife, an organisation that aims to do just that to empower young people to raise their standards, to stand up against the status quo, to demand a better life for themselves, and to make choices that will lead to a healthy, HIV-free future. But where are young people’s role models? How do we expect young South Africans to demand more from this country and the institutions that serve them if adults are not rising up to do the same?
What’s different for South Africa’s current generation of young people however, and what I believe offers a great deal of hope for the future, is the environment in which they are growing up. They are being raised in a South Africa that is, at least for all intents and purposes, free of colour or ethnic lines across all facets of daily life. As Lundy suggests, they are living an integrated lifestyle, engaging in mixed relationships, and witnessing a non-racist cultural melting pot. As a result, they are developing an openness and understanding for diversity that previous generations may have lacked. These young people did not live apartheid, so unity is all they should know. Lundy also pointed out that young South Africans are being exposed to the global community in a way that previous generations never were, which in itself will shape attitudes, behaviours and perspectives of this youngest generation.
Absolutely there are negative forces currently at play in so many facets of life in South Africa. But this is a country that has risen above great challenges in the past, so prove that it can be done again. Focus on the positives. Invest in the strengths. Stand up and do your part to make change, no matter how big or small. A victim mentality will not be the answer. However a Proudly South African one, that unites and mobilizes all people of this country, could be a very powerful response resulting in limitless possibilities for the future of South Africa and its people.
