WE are all witnesses of a seismic shift in the South African landscape.
Thirty years after liberation, the voters have rejected the ANC as the majority voice of society and forced it onto a government of national unity with a number of other parties, notably the Democratic Alliance and the Inkatha Freedom Party.
As a member of the governing party, we have to admit that, three decades after 1994, we have not achieved our goal of a better life for all. We are not safe, people are hungry and cold, our infrastructure is deteriorating, and we are suffering from terminal corruption.
A situation such as this calls for brutal honesty. Nothing we can say, or spin, changes the fact that we failed in our attempt to heal the ills of apartheid. Our beloved country is a better place for a selected few, mostly politicians and their friends, but not for all.
Yet, today South Africa is a better place to live in as some of us, grudgingly, realize that things will never go back to the way they were. New political formations will emerge, and others will slowly fade away in the same way that the National Party failed to survive the seismic shift of post-1994.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will face torturous challenges from those that are now without jobs or political security.
At the same time, he gains the insight of his former political opponents who now have to take co-responsibility for governmental programs.
I have always advocated for reconciliation and the building of bridges across all divides, and our first President, Nelson Mandela did.
In working together, we now have a unique opportunity to honour his legacy, albeit a second one. As he reached out to FW de Klerk and Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi our President has now, in his hour of need, reached out to leaders of other parties to join him in reshaping our fortunes.
We are weaker, but we are also stronger. Now is the time to find a common cause and show our patriotism as leaders. As we celebrate Mandela Day, it will serve our new, multi-party leadership well to remember what the great man stood for in forging partnerships after our first democratic elections.
From my point of view, he taught us:
1. That our love of our country should be bigger than our egos. We should all strive to find causes bigger than ourselves.
2. That power is not positional. History will not judge politicians on which office they held, but on what they achieved.
3. That grudges, however well-founded are not helpful when looking forward or negotiating. In the GNU negotiations, I sometimes got the impression that some so-called leaders could not let go of slights of the past.
4. That seeking external excuses for non-performance blocks political introspection. Apartheid and the weak global economy fall in this category.
5. That South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, minorities and majorities. Not a single person or group is excluded. Unity is the keyword in the phrase Government of National Unity.
6. That in a time of national need we need to cross the bridges of our prejudices. This holds true for both the ANC and DA, the two biggest parties in the GNU.
7. That when the people have spoken in a democracy we should listen without filters. No party won a majority in this election, so we need to unpack the reasons for it, stop the rot of corruption and deliver on our promises.
8. That your opponent can become your partner when you both shed narrow self interest, as the Father of our Nation did when he, despite being the victor by a large majority, included other parties in the 1994 GNU. The leaders of the standoff in Gauteng could benefit substantially from such a mindset.
I had the privilege of working with Nelson Mandela on both public and private matters. In my eyes, he will always be a giant.
We now have, once again, the opportunity to make South Africa a giant of Africa, an ideal that he lived a selfless life for.
Let us all benefit from the wisdom of Madiba, the leader who left bitterness behind and looked to the future with hope.
We are a country of heroes and hope. Mandela was an iconic hero. It is up to us, as mere mortals, to keep the flame of hope alive and strong.
- Phosa is a business leader, former ANC Treasurer-General and ex-Premier of Mpumalanga. This is an edited version of his Mandela Day speech in Sandton.
