Reflections on being a South African citizen

My heart bleeds for myself and my fellow South Africans. We are in a crisis.Perhaps we’ve 

been in a crisis for the past 24 years but we were lulled into sleep by words like ‘democracy’, ‘human rights’ and ‘equality for all’; yet these were just in theory and seemingly nothing was done to bring these to practicality. Maybe the faces of black presidents made our people transfer individual responsibility to them with the hope that the black man will sympathize more with them; that black presidents’ hearts will be true and they will always have people’s interests at heart.

I myself am guilty because I have not been concerned because of other forms of distractions but that’s not an excuse. And I’m grateful that I’ve been awakened to the real struggles of my people-particularly black people and people from my own tribe, AmaXhosa. This doesn’t in any way seek to water down the experiences of other people; but I can only speak of my own experiences and those I get to observe.

The reality is: Xhosa people are still oppressed; most South Africans are too. I feel like only a few things have changed post-apartheid and I am grateful about the changes; but at the same time I can’t pretend as if all is well. I still experience the pangs of poverty and I know many who still do. My heart breaks at this realization and at times I become overwhelmed with sadness. But I know this is not our destiny as black people. The change begins when realize we are also part of the problem and stop pointing fingers without actually asking what can we do regardless of circumstances and bring about change.

 As things stand, S.A has citizens that are so depended on the government that every crisis needs the police, government, and ministers. We need to let go of the ‘entitlement’ and ‘dependency’ mentality. We need to realize that our needs cannot be met by government officials while we sit and do nothing. We need to work for ourselves and come with the solutions. Think about it: if we are members of a particular residential area and there is an issue that needs to be solved, is it fair to call an outsider when we are the most acquainted with our struggles? My point is: we need to take accountability and play our role too. We cannot wait like helpless babies when we’ve been blessed with exceptional minds, strength and other talents.

We are fully capable and that means we all have a role to play. An elderly man mentioned how we no longer pride ourselves in hard work and building ourselves up. We want the government to clothe us, feed us, school us and the question is: what do we bring to the table? Is it truly the government’s duty-when he has not even been there when were conceived? May God enlighten us. May He help us to develop as individuals and depend solely on Him and grant us wisdom on how to not put our responsibilities on mere mortals; help us to improve on all spheres.

And I believe solving the issue begins to seeing that there’s a problem so that the next generation is rescued. We can also learn many lessons from presidents like Thomas Sankara and others; we can also learn more from Ethiopia with regards to their self-help programs. There are many other issues that must solved too like education and the likes.