Forgiveness and Emancipation

I finally understand why Mandela chose reconciliation over revenge. In his Long Walk to Freedom he gives an explanation for his approach of reconciliation. He said when he stepped out of jail, he knew he had two choices the one is to get white people back for what they have did to him or he can forgive them completely. He decided on the road to forgiveness because if he had chosen hate and revenge he would have imprisoned himself all over again.

It is funny what a strange hold hate have over oneself, and the saddest part is you expect the next person to care. The truth is that the people you hate in most cases are not aware of your feelings and does not even of care your state of mind. The issue in a post-apartheid SA is emancipation, and it can only be achieve through forgiveness.

It is bold of me to write this, but I came to realise that this is the truth.  Emancipation does not mean your problems of yesterday would magically disappear, it means that you will be willing to move on to a better life, and not expect any favours or anything from the next person (the hated one).

We black people need to forgive white people for apartheid and the injustice of the past, and white people must forgive themselves and the apartheid leadership for what they have done to them. White people were made believe that they are special and superior to black people, but this was taken away from them with the sudden abolishment of apartheid.

White people are also victims of apartheid (we can argue the extent of it). White people lost their families and friends in a silly war that benefitted them nothing, and in many cases this hate and anger is protected towards black people. Some white people blame black people for this because their family and friends were killed for fighting black communists in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Angola.

Black people as victims of apartheid had to endure the constant humiliation and discrimination of white people. Black people were not allowed to use the same public spaces as black people or love someone of another race. Black had to call white people ‘baas’ (boss) and sit at the back of a bakkie while the dog is sitting in front. The homes of black people were destroyed and were forcefully removed to places that were not fit for human inhabitancy. Their friends and family were killed and imprisoned if they protested for a South Africa that is free from racial injustice.

This shows that both white and black must forgive. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established in this regard. The aim was to let South Africans forgive and reconcile. The TRC have contributed towards this but did not succeed to get the desired results everyone has hoped for. My critic on the TRC is that the scope was too small and that it was too short-lived.

The question one need to ask is: How do you forgive? If you forgive please use the standard that was set by the Bible. Jesus said that when you forgive you must forgive 70 x 7. Once you forgive like that your mind is freed from all hatred and ‘buts’ and you are willing to move on. With forgiveness also comes acceptance. You accept that the other person might not change. You also accept the fact that you are doing this for yourself and do not expect something in return from the other party. Forgiveness is without expectations; do not expect the next person to change or care.

Mandela chose forgiveness for himself and by doing this he freed himself from the last thing that might have kept him captive, and since he made that decision, he grew stronger, wiser and became iconic. It takes more to forgive than to hate, but the results of forgiveness is far better than that of hatred.

It is how you finish

If there is something that I would like a lot of people to understand about achieving their is the following: In life it is not how you start the race but how you finish it. There is nothing wrong with a good start because a good start set the pace for the race but it does not mean that the pace-setter will win the race.

I can remember when I was in high school (many moons ago) I made it to the regional athletics championship and that day I had to ran two races. The first one was the 5000m and the second was the 1500m. The first race went well and I win the race but the second almost gave me a heart attack.

If you are familiar with the 1500m you know that you start 300m and once you have finish that you still need to finish 3 more laps. So, when we started the race I was nervous and did not know what to expect and decided not put everything in the first 1000m. For those that know athletics a bell usually rang to announce the last round and it is also where you increase your speed and push yourself pass your physical and mental limits.

So, when there was two laps left one of the athletes accelerated insanely and left us all behind. When I saw this I became worried because with his pace he will break the SA schools record and I am not close to that record. I was tempted to follow him but I decided to keep to my original plan.

When we reached the 100m before the last lap this guy already created a gap of 80m. So when we got to the 80m mark before the last lap this guy just crossed the finish line and suddenly decrease his pace. I became clear to us that this guy thought he finished the race and as expected the bell rang as he was first passed the bell. We could see how shocked and demotivated he was.

We catch up with him at the 200m mark and when we finished the race he was not part of us. The important thing is we finished the race and he did not. So what can we learn from this?

Firstly, plan effectively. I had a plan before the race started and a strategy during the race. Secondly, stick to your guns. If someone is speeding away and it was not part of your plan to accelerate at that point do not do it. Resist the temptation of running someone else's race, run your own race. Finally, completing the race is the most important thing. A mentor of mine believe that the person that is second is not the loser but the last person or the person that do not finish the race is the loser. So if you came second great stuff.

But remember the basis for finishing any race is preparation. They say when you are tasked to cut done a three in an hour use the first 30 minutes to sharpen the axe because a sharp axe makes your work easier. Do not just start cutting blindly. So, how is this applicable to you?

If you writing an exam, a test, running a race, starting a business or starting a community garden please remember this: it is not how you start your goal but it is how you finish it that counts. But for you to finish the race, remember to plan/prepare, stick to your guns and do everything in your power to finish it.

Pre-Conceptions

After work today I heard this lady on Radio 2000 and I could hear that she is a very intelligent woman. She explain how she grew with her mother and grandmother and how she never had any father figure in her life.

They way she spoke and expresses herself intrigued me, and I was wondering who this could be. She spoke about the values her mother and grandmother thought her, and how her family transitioned into the new SA. I must be honest I was thinking it must be some doctor from a university or a really educated person.

But to my surprise it was Khanyi Mbau. I was surprised how the 'faceless' (the true) Khanyi Mbau are so different to the one we all know (the one in the media). It also made me wonder how much the media have influenced our perceptions about life. Our perceptions about politics, the weather, what to eat, what is good and what is bad.

The Khanyi Mbau on radio tonight was not the out of control freak and 'queen of bling' (as she is commonly known) but an honest and hardworking women. She could have been my sister or my cousin; women I love. So I am asking myself how many skewed perceptions do I have of other 'famous' people, like for example our politicians.

What would I think of a 'faceless' Julius Malema, Hellen Zille, Gwede Mantashe, or Mosiuoa Lekota. By 'faceless' I mean the real person and not the one that the media portray. How would our perceptions change about these individuals? Will we truly have the same feelings that we currently do? I must be honest mine is definitely changed.

A Nation at War With Itself

The recent gang violence on the Cape Flats, the violent protest marches in the City of Cape Town and the ‘mine war’ at Marikana cannot be seen as separate or as isolated incidents. It must be seen as symptoms of a much greater underlying issue. I see it as a nation at war with itself. In a war there are always two or more parties involved, one group always want to take control and in most cases it is a struggle over scarce resources.

The common denominator of all these events is the quality of life of ‘black’ people in South Africa and it relates to a struggle over scarce resources. The violence that is currently manifesting on the Cape Flats would have never happen if not for apartheid. It was the apartheid legislation that relocated black people on the Cape

Flats, it was apartheid that denied the majority equal education and work opportunities. So people living in Hanover Park do not have the same standard of living as their white counterparts.

The same with Khayelitsha, it was created as a dormitory township for black to sleep in and not for real development to take place. A large part of black people in Khayelitsha do not have basic services. For example, Monwabisi Park does not even have electricity. Furthermore, mine workers at Lonin Platinum mine earn a salary of about R4000.00 a month (apparently it is more but was nt confirmed). These mine workers are from the rural areas across SA and the money they earning is not enough to sustain them and their families.

The second denominator is that there are always two parties involved in these conflicts. For example, on the Cape Flats rival gangs are trying to exterminate each other. In Khayelitsha the DA claim to have evidence that the protest marches are organise by the ANCYL and in Marikana it is the mine workers against Lonin management and NUM.

The third denominator is a lost to human live. In all of these three cases you will find that human have lost their lives. In Khayelitsha and on the Cape Flats it was mostly innocent bystanders. What worries me is that violence has become the acceptable way of dealing disputes. Most political commentators and ‘so called analysts’ have been so blinded by the ANC leadership race that they are not able to connect these dots.

So here is my appeal: let us find ways to stop this trend (violence) before it is too late.