If you are black in South Africa, and you occupy a leadership role in some profession or as an entrepreneur, you probably also belong to a group that strides the two worlds of this country; in one world you are one with the people who still experience the effects of the previous government’s racial policies because you have had to overcome some of them yourself, and in the other world, you have seen how much alive with possibilities this country is because you have achieved some of that success yourself. But. Can you also use your role to also educate, uplift and empower your community, and should you?

Ubuntu: perhaps the most telling fact about this word as describing an African way of life is that it has many names in South Africa and other African countries, all with the same meaning; the interdependence of humans on another and the acknowledgment of one's responsibility to their fellow humans and the world around them, collectivism over individualism, and being humane.

In this context, there should no question to this, in fact it is an obligation to do so because as the saying goes “I am because you are”. The concept of Ubuntu has also evolved to such ideas as “paying it forward” in places that are cultural melting pots where people of different backgrounds and cultures converge, to mean one transferring one’s knowledge or skills to anyone who wants to learn from that person and not only one’s fellow ethnic group members, family, or close relatives.

That said, how do we reconcile Ubuntu with a shortcoming that many of us often lament about ourselves as a race, which is that we often do not work well with each other; we do not wish each other well and at our worst we actively work against each other.

Objectively, if who we are, are people of Ubuntu, then jealousy, slander, and negativity are things that are not of us, if that is the case, the next question might be whose are they then? And we can point to many sources! Yet if we agree that these things are not of us, then shouldn’t that be enough for us to also agree that we do not have to continue that way?

Culture is a relay, and black people have been running, but without the baton. It was lost a long time ago! So, those among us who are inspirited to pick up the baton, must do so with sober minds, knowing that there will be some among us as a collective, who are not ready to be brought along, and so we may not grow weary because of them, there are conditions for bringing our black folk along we must not negotiate or compromise, main among them is adding value to what we want to achieve as abantu.

Contributors

Du Nyuswa
Harry Ndlovu
Zwelibanzi Moya
Augustine Sithole
Ricky Mogohlo