Joel
Netshitenzhe
Speech:
Local Government Conference
28
July 1999
Southern
African Development
Community towards a
common future
I
was informed that other
speakers, during the
course of this morning,
will be dealing with
very concrete issues
pertaining to the activities
of local government.
I was therefore given
a responsibility to
take you to the clouds
with some reflections
on the issue of the
African Renaissance.
But
perhaps it is important
to emphasise from the
outset that when we
talk about governance,
we are first and foremost
talking about people.
The tendency amongst
ourselves is to reflect
on the powers and responsibilities
that we have in various
spheres of government.
That’s been part
of the debate in the
process of constitution-making
in South Africa - to
talk about provincial,
local and national powers
and responsibilities.
As such, we tend to
forget that we do not
have a local people,
a provincial people
or a national people.
We just have people.
Therefore,
the issue of partnership
amongst the various
spheres of government
in the implementation
of programmes becomes
very critical. No-one
can gainsay the fact
that local government
is one of the most critical
spheres in ensuring
that programmes of development
are carried out. Because
- to agree and slightly
disagree with Magang
(the previous speaker)
- local government deals
not so much with bread
and butter issues but
in the African context
it deals with Sadza
and Kapenta, Vhuswa
and Mashonzha.
One
of the issues that we
need to consider as
the premise of our approach
to the issue of the
African Renaissance
is that it has gained
wide currency throughout
the continent, particularly
amongst the intelligentsia
and the political leadership.
But the fact of the
matter is that this
is a campaign that has
been initiated by the
political leadership;
and contained in that
is a challenge: Is the
African Renaissance
merely a political construct?
Is it merely a political
campaign or is it much
more than that? I think
we will all agree that
it is much more than
a political construct.
Therefore
one of the challenges
is how to ensure that
this concept captures
the minds of the mass
of the African people
on the continent so
that it becomes their
way of life, an inspiration
to their actions.
Secondly,
how do we ensure that
the articulation of
the concept of the African
Renaissance and the
enthusiasm for it are
seen to be the property,
not only of the political
leadership on the continent,
but also of the ideological
leadership including
our intellectuals, our
religious leaders, artists
and cultural workers.
How do we ensure that
in our operations, even
at the level of local
government, we are inspired
by this concept of the
need for Africa to renew
herself.
One
of the realities that
we have to address,
and this is another
challenge, is that in
my view, Africans are
not a unique people
with some mythical characteristics
- sometimes we call
it ubuntu here in South
Africa. We are like
any other people with
differences, be they
ethnic, religious, gender
or sometimes even racial
differences.
The
challenge we face is
to balance between the
manifestation of those
differences and the
things that unite us.
And this applies as
much to social groups
as it would even to
cities and villages.
It should be expected,
for instance, that Durban
and Maputo and Nairobi
will compete as ports
on the East Coast of
Africa. But should that
competition be cut-throat?
Are there things around
which we could sit down
together and say we
need to ensure a division
of labour.
The
point I’m making
is that competition
on its own, differences
on their own are not
a negative thing. The
question is how to manage
them in the interest
of the continent, in
the interest of our
villages, in the interest
of our cities.
Now
that the issue of the
African Renaissance
has been spoken about
for a number of years,
we in South Africa and
I suppose amongst our
neighbours, have been
battling with the definition
of this Renaissance
and how it should manifest
itself!
The
tendency has been to
say that if you visit
Zimbabwe, if you fight
with a Swazi or if you
fall in love with a
Mozambican, that is
the African Renaissance.
That needs to be challenged
because it’s not
a matter of choice that
Africans should breathe
African air; that they
should consume African
products; that they
should subsist from
African soil. It is
in their very being
as human beings that
neighbouring Africans
will trade; they will
fight; they will empathise;
they will compete and
they will love one another
or even hate one another.
That does not constitute
the African Renaissance
or its negation.
And
therefore it becomes
critical that when we
talk about the manifestation
of this renewal, we
should identify flagship
projects which we can
use to promote what
is seen by many people
as merely a philosophical
idea. I’ll come
back to this in my concluding
remarks.
In
many reports and analyses
in the media especially
here in South Africa,
there is a tendency
to narrowly associate
this idea of renewal
with individuals. Indeed
in East Africa, in West
Africa, in Southern
Africa and elsewhere,
the issue of the African
Renaissance has been
raised by far-sighted
leaders. But when we
do that, sometimes we
tend to forget that
there are very objective
realities that make
this renewal a necessity
and, for the continent,
a matter of life and
death.
Some
of these realities include:
- the
fact of the development
of the world economy
in the current age;
- the
search for bigger
markets, for cheaper
labour, and for
lucrative destinations
for portfolio capital;
and
- the
new technological
revolution.
All
these are realities
that make it possible
either for Africa to
take advantage of the
new world situation,
to leap-frog some of
the stages through which
the world has gone in
order to reach the highest
levels of human development,
or to sit back under
the African tree and
perish.
The
other reality is the
fact that we do not
have what to some were
protective barriers
and to others, challenges
and threats, which existed
within the context of
the Cold War. Then,
it became easier if
we were an ally of this
or the other bloc to
get aid, sometimes without
much responsibility.
But today the world
is a different place
and we need to come
of our own, demand what
we believe is due to
the continent and make
an input into what happens
in the world as it affects
our continent.
Of
course another reality
is that an African Renaissance
cannot be undertaken
within the context of
the political paradigms
that we have had in
the past: that everything
African is good and
therefore we do not
need to be self-critical
of ourselves when we
go wrong.
This
new situation that allows
us to do this is partly
a consequence of the
liberation of Southern
Africa in which Africa
played an important
role. Indeed, without
the kind of unity that
required that we ignore
the beam in our own
eye, that liberation
might not have been
possible. But this new
situation makes it possible
for us in our discussions,
yes to drum up our own
successes and promote
them, but at the same
time to be self-critical
and look at how we improve
the way we do things.
There
are many issues that
one can raise with regard
to the objectives of
this Renaissance. Without
going into detail, I
think the fundamental
question is that we
want Africa to embark
on a course of rapid
industrialisation and
development. We want
to ensure that the African
child can be afforded
the best in education,
in health, in entertainment.
We want to ensure that
the African village
can become one of the
nodal points, like in
the rest of the world,
of the utilisation of
technology for purposes
of the improvement of
the quality of life.
But
we also want the African
person to be proud of
him-/herself, to be
proud of who we are,
ensuring that we do
not see ourselves as
failed mirror images
of Europe or the Americas.
During
the 1970s, when some
of us were still young,
we came across a philosophy
and a movement among
students, called ‘Black
Consciousness’.
One of the things that
still linger in one’s
mind, which I believe
is relevant to this
concept of the African
Renaissance, was that
self-pride should be
a way of life, an attitude
of mind.
This
becomes even more critical
for Africa in the current
age because, with the
development of global
communication, with
the flow of portfolio
capital around the world
at such a rapid pace
and an attempt on our
part to attract investments,
the tendency develops
for us to start behaving
(without being derogatory)
like beauty queens on
a catwalk, with a judge
based in Europe or in
the Americas who will
say ‘yes, beautiful’
and therefore we will
invest or we will provide
aid.
One
of the problems in South
Africa with our new
democracy and given
the skewed distribution
of wealth is that, with
every step you take,
when you do things that
need to be done in order
to ensure social development,
you look over your shoulder
to say: But what will
the whites say? They
will say is that we
are still primitive!
And then you desist
from implementing programmes
of radical transformation.
Therefore,
the issue of self-pride,
self-appreciation on
the part of the African
child and the African
people in general is
one of the most critical
elements of this African
Renaissance.
There
are many things that
need to be done practically.
As I said earlier, we
should not mistake the
natural things that
Africans do amongst
themselves and to one
another as the manifestation
of the African Renaissance.
Some flagship projects
and some programmes
need to be embarked
upon to highlight this
renewal.
With
regard to this conference
in particular, one of
the questions is: how
do we share our experiences
in the various African
localities with regard
to African democracy,
or if you like, democracy
as it manifests itself
in Africa.
From
time to time, I suppose
because of the seeming
intractability of the
problems that South
Africa was facing, what
we have achieved tends
to be exaggerated as
miracle. We say we have
got good local government
which is participatory
and so on. However,
we are still grappling
with the difficult question
of how to ensure alignment
between the progressive
policies of democratic
local government and
the reality of African
traditional leadership.
It’s an issue that
we still have to address
and an issue around
which there is a lot
we are learning and
we can learn from our
neighbours in Southern
Africa and further afield
Amongst
other issues that will
need to be taken into
account as we work out
programmes is how to
give intellectual as
well as cultural impetus
to the African Renaissance.
A number of conferences
have been held and the
idea that has developed
now is that perhaps
we need to move to sector
specific conferences.
This includes conferences
of economists, experts
on local government
and historians so that
we have an intellectual
underpinning to this
concept of the Renaissance.
It
will also have to include
the twinning of our
universities on the
African continent because
(again, to be self-critical)
the tendency even in
our country is that
when we think about
twinning cities and
universities, we think
about Europe and the
Americas. This brings
us back to that question
of a way of life and
an attitude of mind.
We
need also to look at
the issue of the traders
in ideas, the journalists
and communicators. Almost
ingrained in ourselves,
as a reflection of the
psychological state
from which we are trying
to extricate ourselves,
is the mindset that
Africa can never do
good.
I
always pose the question,
if you were to ask a
South African: When
last did you hear about
Kenya or Tanzania in
the local media - on
radio and on television
- the answer would be:
a year or two ago, when
American embassies were
bombed and when the
FBI descended on the
"Dark Continent".
Before then and since
then, nothing much,
if anything at all.
Perhaps when a ferry
sinks, when there is
a disaster, you will
then hear about Dar
Es Salaam. Indeed, for
this African Renaissance
to succeed, we will
need to change the paradigm
of ourselves as activists,
as people working in
various spheres of government,
but also as the media.
Perhaps
this might not be part
of your programme but
amongst the things that
we need to consider
- and some of them are
already on the table
- is building partnerships
in the celebration of
the millennium among
African cities and villages.
It’s one of the
concrete things in the
form of entertainment
that can bring our people
together. There are
major sporting events
that are coming: the
African Cup of Nations
beginning of next year,
and the All-Africa Games
in a few weeks time.
If we work together,
we can ensure that these
become Renaissance events.
We can thus use concrete
things as flagships
to demonstrate the need
and the manifestation
of the African Renaissance.
Another
issue I suppose you
will discuss is the
question of urban renewal.
Someone observed: Harare’s
so clean, and Johannesburg
is so dirty! What is
it that South Africans
can learn from Zimbabweans?
How do we ensure that
we promote the good
experiences that exist,
from this smallest example
to the major ones, including
the celebration of the
restoration of democracy
in Nigeria, the progress
that is being made in
the DRC, in Sierra Leone
and so on! This should
help serve as a catalyst
to encourage further
progress in tortured
places like Angola.
One
of the major problems
that we face, which
should again engage
our minds as we think
about programmes, is
the brittleness of the
African State. This
is critical even at
local government level.
To give an example,
you had for many years
in the FRG, a group
called the Badermeinhof
Gang. Almost on a monthly
basis there were bombs
exploding but no one
saw that as a challenge
to the integrity of
the German State, that
it was about to collapse.
You had bombs exploding
in the United States
before and during the
Olympic Games but no-one
said the state in the
USA was about to collapse.
Yet in Africa when things
like that happen, so
brittle is the African
State that people say
it’s about to collapse
and sometimes it does
collapse.
This
brings to the fore one
of the major challenges
that we face at various
levels of government:
that is the question
of legitimacy. I hope
during the course of
your discussions, this
issue will feature.
Legitimacy is not a
matter merely of conducting
elections, but also
of how we relate on
an ongoing basis with
the mass of the people.
It’s
a problem that we face
in our country because
of inexperience and
other subjective problems.
Whilst there might be
much appreciation amongst
the populace about what
is happening at national
and provincial levels,
there’s usually
very serious criticism
about the performance
of local government.
This is a matter of
serious concern because
the legitimacy of local
government is critical
to the legitimacy of
democracy, of government
and of the African State
per se.
We
raise all these issues
so that as we search
for their answers, we
can ensure that all
the good things happen
for the African child
to play in the African
sun, confident that
the future holds prosperity
and a better life for
him/her, confident that
we can have better cities
and better villages
which utilise the best
in world technology
to attain a better quality
of life, but remain
truly African.
Thank
You.
Joel Netshitenzhe
CEO, GCIS
Issued by Government
Communication and Information
System (GCIS)
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