In just less than two years, South Africa will celebrate 20 years of democracy. The 20-year anniversary presents an opportunity to celebrate our successes and tackle our challenges with renewed energy. We will remember and honour those who lost their lives in the fight for a better life for all.
We should also be mindful of how the peaceful transition brought out the best in us. How South Africans stood in long queues to vote for a government to represent their best interests. How the dawn of democracy gave hope to all South Africans of a better life for all. How South Africans joined hands and vowed to build a nonracial, nonsexist and truly democratic South Africa.
We come from a past where the majority of our people were excluded from decision making. They never had the opportunity in respect of participating in political and social institutions to shape decisions which affect their lives. This circumstance limited citizens’ ability to make choices that could improve their well-being.
As we entered the era of democracy, the government faced a myriad of socio-economic challenges. The newly elected government was also determined to ensure that the citizens would never again be excluded from decisions that affect their lives. Tackling these major challenges required a change in mindset and a new way of talking about issues in the form of development communication.
Development communication is well captured in the 2010 Review of the Government-wide Communications System documents namely as an approach that is “aimed at making public programmes and policies real, meaningful and sustainable”. Communication should through strategic and meaningful partnerships reach communities.
The Rome Consensus on Communication for Development further describes it as a “social process based on dialogue using a broad range of tools and methods. It is about seeking change at different levels including listening, building trust, sharing knowledge and skills, building policies, debating and learning for sustained and meaningful change”.
The strongest democracies are those nations where citizens raise issues and are active participants in the way in which countries are governed. They hold governments to account for policies and their implementation. To be successful as a country and nurture a functioning democracy we need informed citizens, empowered to contribute and shape the changes they would like see take place in the country.
As we approach the 20 years of democracy, we need to encourage citizens to put their knowledge and learning into practice. Communities need to take ownership and be the custodians of their destiny, participate in solving challenges facing them as well as hold government officials accountable to deliver in terms of what our Bill of Rights and Constitution prescribes.
During September we celebrated the life and legacy of Steve Biko. As we take stock of how far we have come as a country, we also need to reawaken his spirit. Delivering the 13th Steve Biko Lecture commemorating the 35th anniversary of the death of the father of Black Consciousness, Professor Ben Okri stressed the need for all of us to take power into our own hands in order to make meaningful changes.He stated: “Everyone therefore carries the burden of leadership. Previously leadership was considered on its own as an isolated event of responsibility. We tended to blame our leaders for our failings. The micro responsibility of Black Consciousness implies that we should blame or praise ourselves for our leaders for they are what we have enabled them to become. To me Black Consciousness suggests that the people take the responsibilities for their lives, their societies, and their destiny.”
We have to heed to Professor Okri’s call and transform his words into action when he says: “Wherever a people are oppressed, the first thing they must remember is who they are. But once liberation has been achieved, the first thing they must remember is who they want to be.”
Steve Biko’s Black Consciousness is still as relevant today as it was 35 years ago. To borrow from a phrase by former Minister of Science Technology, and a former leader of the Azanian People’s Organisation, Mosibudi Mangena “they [Biko’s ethos] were not just about physical oppression but about restoring people’s dignity”.
In the spirit of Professor Okri’s call, we need to reaffirm our role as active participants in ongoing societal change and by implication join hands with government to achieve its targets. But equally important we should not shy away from assessing implementation, flagging areas which still require more work and challenge problems which may still exist.
While government does not necessarily have all the answers, it has a clear vision and commitment to build a better life for all. Working together we can do more to realise that common vision.
In cases where South Africans do not see eye to eye with government, the starting point to resolve our differences should come from the spirit which states that in the greater good of the country that is informed and inspired by two goals - the unity of our people and a better life for all.
Jabulani Sibanyoni works for Government Communication and Information System (GCIS). He writes about current affairs.
