Whilst we rightfully pay homage to the sacrifices of the “children of Sharpeville, of Langa, of Soweto, of Umlazi, of Zamdela, of Lephalale” and remember them by commemorating their memories on Human Rights day, we have failed to deliver on their dreams.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s language skills are awesome, just as Zuma’s dancing and singing skills were memorable, but they hardly deliver what the Constitution proffers.
On Human Rights day Ramaphosa said “Bound by our belief in our Constitution, we continue to work towards the realisation of a country that is united, non-racial, non-sexist, prosperous and free.”
True, we believe in the Constitution. Less so, however, the ANC and the EFF that want to subvert the clauses protecting land ownership. So if in the upcoming election we grant these two parties significant support, even our Constitution may not be inviolable.
How can we be “united” when there is hardly an issue that enjoys national consensus? Is there agreement on what we should be doing about health (we rank near the bottom of the international index), or education (we rank poorly and the rankings of our Universities are falling), or refugees (our treatment of foreigners and xenophobia are appalling); or land redistribution or whether we should be supporting all the dictators of the world as our Department of International Relations does (Maduro, Putin and Erdogan).
In the past at least our sporting teams enjoyed national support, but of late with the political meddling of a Sports Minister, our sporting achievements have been paltry. Ramaphosa may inadvertently have undermined his own assertion of “unity”, by focussing on the resurgence of the diversity of our indigenous languages. Sure, we have diversity, which is a good attribute, but hardly “unity”.