Mayibuye: 25 Years of Democracy in South Africa

Mduduzi Ndlovu

• Publisher: African Perspectives Publishing
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781990931291
• Topic: Littérature
• Subtopic: Poésie africaine

'The attainment of liberty was the first decisive step in the path of reconstruction and development: a path that sought to harness the life experiences, skills, energies and aspirations of the people of South Africa towards the complete eradication of apartheid and its vestiges, as well as the building of a united democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous future for all. However, the road ahead remains long, steep and winding. More still needs to be done to translate our freedom into profound socio-economic change in the lives of many South Africans, to whom the great promise and optimism of 1994 has given way to disappointment and hopelessness. In this collection of poetry, Lawrence Mduduzi Ndlovu retraces our steps as a nation from the period immediately preceding freedom and democracy in 1994 to where we are 25 years later'.

Foreword

The 27^th of April 1994, the day of South Africa’s liberation, marked the triumph of freedom over many years of colonial and apartheid oppression. This epoch-making event was a product of relentless struggles fought by generations of heroes and heroines: fearless warriors who fought in the wars of dispossession; visionaries who dared to dream of an alternative South African society; brave youth and student leaders who took the struggle for liberation to a higher level; determined workers who swelled the ranks of the militant trade union movement and patriotic South Africans, drawn from all races, who led the final push towards the demise of apartheid.

The South African struggle for liberation also drew on the massive support and solidarity of millions of men and women of goodwill across the globe who were single-minded in their mission to bring us our freedom.

The attainment of liberty was the first decisive step in the path of reconstruction and development: a path that sought to harness the life experiences, skills, energies and aspirations of the people of South Africa towards the complete eradication of apartheid and its vestiges, as well as the building of a united democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous future for all.

Indeed, 1994 brought with it the great promise of economic growth, development and redistribution, social cohesion, reconciliation and nation building, all which were necessary in ensuring that, as a nation, we make a permanent and decisive break with our unhappy past. These were also building blocks towards the South Africa we want.

It is encouraging that twenty-five years later, our freedom and democracy endures. Without fear of contradiction, we can say that much has been achieved since that epoch-making day of April the 27^th 1994:today’s South Africa is a much better place than 1994’s. Our nation has trudged a very long road from an embittered and divided past to a society based on respect for human rights, equality and dignity for all.

However, the road ahead remains long, steep and winding. More needs to be done to translate ur freedom into profound socioeconomic change in the lives of many South Africans, to whom the great promise and optimism of 1994 has given way to disappointment and hopelessness.

In this collection of poetry, Lawrence Mduduzi Ndlovu retraces our steps as a nation from the period immediately preceding freedom and democracy in 1994 to where we are 25 years later.

He begins by reminding us that the treasure that is our freedom came at an enormous cost. Many warriors have died for us to be free. Young and old; black and white, men and women have had to give off themselves for us to see the day of freedom. Many prayed for us to be free. Many still pray for our freedom, that it may endure.

Mduduzi causes us to recall the anxiety that accompanied the transition to democracy. He reminds us of the reconciliation hand that the previously oppressed offered to their tormentors.

He writes in one of his opening poems:

 

“We try call them back

Each time we affirm that they

Wouldn’t have been tolerated this lawlessness

We offer our supplications

Direct our libations to them…

 

In the collection, Mduduzi also speaks of the hope that was ignited in 1994. He refers to this as a “bright morning [that…] will dispel yesteryear’s idleness […and] win for new pathways, dispelling defeating stagnancy”. More profoundly, this collection reminds us of the mistakes we have made along our journey as a free people. In what he aptly refers to as “The Turn”, Mduduzi speaks of how former comrades – previously united against a clear, identifiable enemy – suddenly found themselves at opposing ends of the new post-1994 divide. In this regards he writes:

 

Some leaped

For the enemy’s chalice

The same one

Stolen from the people

And below their own breath

Whispered to themselves

That it is all mine

 

Others ran to see

The treasures of the slain beast

Found some things

Then saw that some things

Were already taken

Then turning to each other

Began to see the smug

Of the old enemy

Only this time

On each other’s faces

 

This was the beginning of an era when farewell to comradeship was bade.

Mduduzi proceeds further to reflect on “The Fire” currently engulfing our country. The genesis of this fire is our mistakes and missteps over the past 25 years. It manifests itself in the growing loss of confidence in institutions and leaders by those who feel left behind and ignored:

 

Patience is one thing

Being ignored is injustice

[…] Being ignored is painful.”

The collection ends on a somewhat positive note when Mduduzi writes:

“I believe in one land

Birthing and teeming

Feeding and filling

Giving yet Inexhaustible

Creative and wealthy

I believe in one people

One bark

Different and long adventitious roots

Same fruit

And flowerings of beauty unparalleled.

 

In leaving the reader with a feeling of hopefulness, Mduduzi reminds us that, even as we face challenges; even as we have made mistakes along our journey; and even as the temptation to believe that there is little hope looms large, we must never give in to pessimism. We are a nation of eternal optimists. We have, many times, triumphed over adversities. We have risen above the odds. We are a resilient people. At all times we must remember that societies are never static. They are in a constant state of motion. Motion is a necessary condition for progress, as it fuels hope for a better tomorrow.

With visionary leadership, sound policies and strong, credible institutions, the current shifts – the current motion – in our politics and economics can be harnessed for the good of the country.

I commend Father Mduduzi Ndlovu on this wonderful and elaborate collection of poetry. This collection is a useful addition to the body of literature that is helping our nation to critically reflect on its past, while at the same time imagining the future that lies ahead.

 

Kgalema Motlanthe - October 2019

Preface

There is a permanent longing that many people live with every day. On the one hand, it is a healthy yearning, which causes each person to work harder, to become more than they were yesterday; on the other hand, it is the great sadness of the unfillable void – a complete state of helplessness – because no matter the dream or...