The fundamental existential dilemma facing South Africa is the trite question, “What is South Africa?” This question is posed as I believe that South Africa is not currently secure in its identity & ambition.

Firstly what is existentialism? I have used disambiguation in its use & existentialism in its metaphorical sense as it normally is understood as meaning the worth of life in a descriptive & not a prescriptive conceptualisation of the meaning of life. Finally the standard definition bears the overriding caveat that it is applicable to humans only. By using disambiguation I imply that society merely represents a collection of individuals & hence it too can have an existential crisis.

Before addressing the current crisis, let us reflect on a crisis from South Africa’s recent past, the 1990s. With the ANC coming to power, the Whites & particularly the Afrikaner experienced a traumatic existential crisis. After holding the reins of power firmly for 45 years, their whole world view would be made obsolescent. Every single concept that they held dear as a nation would be destroyed wortel & tak [root & branch].

I pitied them for their pain & adjustment & most of them, after long soul searching, either made the adjustment or emigrated.

One world view was replaced by another much of which was enshrined in the Constitution. An innovative concept called Human Rights was introduced to South Africa for the first time in its history. Encompassing the full range of rights applicable in the most advanced countries in the world, it naturally included the equality of races, genders, sexual orientation & the like.

Whilst human rights would be applied within our borders, would it become the leitmotif in South Africa’s dealings with the rest of the world? Initially under Mandela, this stance was adopted but the reality that the sacred foreign policy rule of National Sovereignty soon intruded. Under Mbeki, South Africa was soon voting with the vilest regimes in the world to absolve them of responsibility for breaches of common human rights.

From being the shining light internationally as regards Human Rights, after a few short years, South Africa, disregarded these niceties as their voting patterns at the United Nations portrayed. I understood the ANC’s dilemma in that some of those countries which contravened fundamental human right’s principles had been their allies in the Liberation Struggle barely a decade before. One such country readily springs quickly to mind: Libya.

From the high moral ground when the ANC assumed power, they became as sleazy & venal as the rest of the world with double-standards in foreign policy abounding. The steady realisation that the ANC for all their fine uplifting polices & constitution, would never be the vestal virgins, created the first pangs of disenchantment with South Africa. The high hopes of the West were dashed.

Mbeki attempted to redeem South Africa in other ways. His forlorn attempt at creating an African Renaissance was doomed to failure. With most of the world’s egregious regimes being located on the African continent, any attempt by a toothless African institution to rectify the situation, was bound to fail.

The first cohort of ANC members in Parliament was impressive for their clear thinking & rectitude but the rot quickly set-in with the Arms Deal & the defrauding of Parliament by ANC Members in the so-called Travelgate Scandal.

Finally the fox [Jacob] was given custody of the hen-house with all its predictable consequences. Given free rein, they plundered with impunity & gay abandon. Of course the fellow foxes sensing the bonanza, joined in. A pugnacious & indomitable cock, one by the name of Thuli Madonsela, is attempting to hold these foxes at bay, but time is not on her side. With death [end of her Contract] nigh, she will be probably be replaced by somebody like her predecessor, the ineffectual Advocate Lawrence Mushwana, who found every technical reason why action should not be taken against miscreants. This will allow the plundering to continue as he hides safety on the highest rung on the hen-house.

This malaise is reflected in the Nkandla imbroglio. For the first time since 1994, the exasperation at the scale of the corruption has unsettled the majority of South Africans.

No longer are the ANC the saints that came to power with such high ideals but rather they have been shown to be self-serving, corrupt & incompetent.

Mamphela Ramphele, a former lover of Steve Biko, the slain civil rights activist, now represents one facet of this disillusionment with the status quo.

For the first time in 20 years, there is fluidity of political positions & expectations, but given South Africa’s race based voting patterns, the splitting of this vote is anticipated instead of consolidation.

Apart from these ills, the race issue is unresolved. The chief instigator in its inappropriate use in the form of the race card is the ANC itself. Such gratuitous use is unacceptable especially by senior ANC officials. Both Blade Nzimande & Jacob Zuma himself have recently been guilty in this regard.

I could imagine the howls of protest that would be forthcoming if the DA tried the same trick.

What would I wish for a refocused South Africa? First & foremost I wish for that all South Africans were treated as equals in terms of opportunities. Fikile Mbalula recent call for 60% black players in all sports teams represents that worse form of BEE where talent & ability is discounted. Secondly that implies that my family’s 193 years of living in South Africa is worth less than a black Zimbabwean granted South African citizenship last week.

Where is the justice in that?

We are all humans & that should be the classification.

The human rights enshrined within the constitution needs to be rigorously applied. The areas in which its application is meagre is in the arena of domestic violence & rape. This combined with a patriarchal attitude prevalent in certain sectors in South Africa demean the lives of females.

Lastly the passage of the Traditional Affairs Bill must be scrapped in its entirety. This is not compatible with the Constitution in any shape or form.

Let us not forget about combating corrupt & accelerating economic growth for these will vastly improve the lives of lower classes

What would really impress me would be South Africa’s adoption of the principles in our Constitution as a basis for our diplomatic relates with other countries.

Let me dream on with that one.

The implementation of the others will suffice.

Then as South Africans we can face the world united in a common sense of purpose.