The generational mission can’t be deferred any longer
11 October 2022
In an article titled Nurturing the Fourth Generation: Defining the Historical Mission of our Generation, an article which expounds on Thandika Mkandawire’s critical reflection on the first three generations of African scholars during the post-colonial era by adding a fourth generation of scholars (the new generation of African scholars), Dr Mshai Mwangola makes the following pertinent observation in arguing for the uniqueness and specificity of what she perceives as each generation’s historical mission, “whether we like it or not, each generation of people—and that must include its intellectuals as well—are born into a specific context that presents peculiar challenges.”
Mwangola further argues that Frantz Fanon, “challenges us to the articulation of a collective definition of mission and agenda, emanating out of a careful examination of the peculiarity of the historical context within which a generation finds itself.” This collective generational mission must be conducted within the context of a generation that is, “emerging onto the scene and still has a measure of control in consciously determining the direction its future will take.”
In a country where the unemployment levels are unacceptably high, with an economy that is struggling to get off the ground and a majority of the population mainly excluded from participating meaningfully within the mainstream economy, it is incumbent upon the emerging generation within the African National Congress to seek to chart a different way forward in advancement of the National Democratic Revolution(NDR), in line with the generational mission that has been identified as Economic Freedom in our Lifetime.
Looking at the South African body politic and internal dynamics within the African National Congress, one can only conclude that the time has come for the emerging generation within the organisation to take over the levers of power and begin to accelerate the advance towards a national democratic society; intensify the implementation of ANC policies aimed at materially improving the lives of the people of South Africa in terms of living conditions and quality of life; working with and amongst the motive forces of the NDR in order to advance radical socio-economic transformation, repositioning the ANC within communities and society at large as the primary vehicle for change and as an organ of people’s power itself; wining back the hearts and minds of the motive forces of the NDR, who are the working class and the poor.