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South Africa will continue to stagnate at best, but most likely to decline because we’re in a generational trap. The leaders we either have to choose from or that ends up in charge of various spaces is incongruent with where the majority (age-wise) is.
Those with power in political, public, corporate and community leadership are old, older or raised at the knee of the same generation that is in charge. The path to growth and success often involves a conscious choice to mimic the older generation, to share the same world view
This stunts progressive ideas, rewards regressive thinking that sees the future through the lens of an old world that is either at the tail end of its existence, or is now gone. New thinking and ideas are seen as rebellion, insolence, arrogance and even stupidity
The golden age of the new South Africa was when there was sufficient bravery in leadership to recognize the power of fresh ideas and to back them up. No, I’m not referring to young people repeating old radical politics, but genuinely fresh ideas
We don’t give Mandela enough credit for backing up young people but wow! He did. Trevor Manuel became Finance Minister in his early 40s. . @tito_mboweni was Labour Minister before 40, leading the most comprehensive reform of labour legislation in history.
Robinson Ramaite became DG of Public Service in his early 30s! I can go on and on! The queue that’s now waiting at the front door of plum leadership positions is composed of people in their 50s and 60s. Some of them can’t even operate the latest technological devices properly
And while political/public sector SA was once willing to experiment and back up young people, corporate SA has always backed old men or those whose “maturity” was effectively a carbon copy of the older generation they depended on for sponsorship. That’s why little changes
That’s why we have fallen behind in innovation and competitiveness. The “new” is the old, just with fresher faces. So what is to be done?
The first step is to recognize that a generational change in political leadership won’t happen within the existing political construct. But the professional class, from which the creme de la creme of political and national leadership should come, is politically comatose.
Without consciousness and activism in this group, we are doomed. Tweeting isn’t it. It only elicits a press release from the same backward thinkers before we move on to the next thing and tweet some more. It’s an ineffectual cycle.
The professional class does nothing meaningful because it is caught in a crossroads. It can “behave” and assimilate, and be rewarded by the older generation charge. Or it can choose its own path and suffer the withdrawal of patronage by the same generation in charge.
Genuinely choosing our own path is an expensive path littered with material sacrifice and uncertainty. So we all grin and bear it, complain and complain, and complain some more. But deep down we know we’re tired. Our tired is tired.
Every single day is about watching and obeying choices we’d never make, fitting into a social consciousness that no longer makes sense, and political ideas that aren’t ideas at all, just waffle that was great in 1995 bit makes no sense now.
My view: political power is how we’re going to change this republic for the better. Nothing, absolutely nothing better will come out of this status quo. Zero.
What we wish for will never become a viable choice, ever, especially not when what generally passes for leadership, however well meaning, is regressive or corrupt.
We really just can’t continue like this. I’m tired. From tackling racism to misogyny- the people we rely on have no fight in them for either. They don’t even believe in or see things the same way.
