Julius Malema - Right or Wrong? Does the ANCYL President have a Point?

How Long is Living in the Past Relevant?


Here's a touchy topic, but a none too relevant one. Examples can be seen the world over of colonialism, racism, prejudice, inequality and so on. But the question for today is - Once a situation is rectified, be it incomplete or not, how long does it become exceptable to re-address the past? Is it an impossible question or maybe directly proportional to the length of time of the atrocity occurred?

Our example: South Africa-

In 1948 apartheid was officially ordered law by the then government of South Africa, this meant that South Africa was the foremost racist nation and world frowned upon it.

In 1991 the infamous Nelson Mandela was released from prison as a political prisoner and by 1994 South Africa’s first democratic elections saw that a black president took his rightful place at the head of the nation.

46 years of apartheid. A long time in the 20^th century perspective for an inhumane law to rule, however a short time in the life of world wide racism, slavery and unspoken apartheid elsewhere.

South Africa, with its wrong policies, unjust laws and draconian government became the scapegoats of the world for 30 years.

Nelson Mandela, had the right idea however – he proved to the world that it was time to move on, move forward. The past, as wrong as it was, was the past, we can learn from it and create a powerful future for all South Africans. This made him not just a freedom fighter but a global icon. He was the hero and role model South Africa and the world needed and so badly demanded. South Africa was about to have a new and positive future.

17 years after Mandela’s election into government South Africa has its 3^rd democratically elected president in power and Nelson is an old man, retired from public life, only his legacy remains…or does it?

Now comes the controversial part…

…when you learn about history in school, in books or on documentaries - is it to learn from the past, relive the past, glorify the past or what is it. Maybe it is sometimes all of those things. But it seems that 17 years after Mandela told the nation and the world that we must learn from the past and now move on, we are hearing about past struggles of South Africa more and more.

Every presidential address and political speech is geared around what South Africa was like during apartheid, Government youth leagues use apartheid as their main antagonist and topic of motivation and now failure to deliver on promises and municipal service delivery is blamed on the past. It is like watching a marketing campaign to direct the public in the direction you want them to go.

This is where the importance of history and how to use it comes in. For should we be reminded constantly about the wrongs we have committed as a nation or as a planet and hence relive it it, or should we focus on the present and the future in an attempt to move on and do it successfully at that.

I have no problem with immortalizing past victories, freedom fighters, war heroes, political activist - this is important - but we now have a tremendous opportunity to teach our youth a real and valuable lesson, but instead we are teaching them not to forget what happened, and where we once were. No one is denying the poor politics of South Africa’s past, but are we not more interested in making a future for us all to live and grow in, rather than maintain animosity and divide?

Just a thought…