Let Us Have Faith in Ourselves as Africans We must not remain in the shadow of the West. By Lisa Weideman The nation is going to the dogs. The radio tells me so, every morning while I contemplate my decaffeinated roast. The miners and policemen are killing each other; the politicians are killing the people; and inflation is killing my pocket. The petrol price went up yesterday, and already we’re being warned of future hikes. These are a sign of the times — a sign of the falsity of everything modernity that has led us to believe: Consume! Acquire! More is more! Clearly, the mass-produced product (and the system that made it) have been deified. “Please sir, I don’t want any more.” “What?” “Please sir, I don’t want any … more.” “No more?” Consumption has become the defining feature of modern societies and, until recently, it seemed that Africa was lagging in the race for acquisition. However, perhaps as a result of the dreaded “globalization” or other external influences, post-colonial Africa is doing its best to become an accomplished consumer. We have built enormous shopping centres and have filled them with the finest luxury imports Asia has to offer. Our dustbins overflow with plastics en route to the
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Reflections on Freedom 2013
Photo by Chris Allen
Western culture is evident in communication technologies that are attracting people everywhere and South Africans are not exceptions.
landfills that bulge and groan. Children watch television more than they play outside — choosing cool, dark, interiors over the warmth of African summers. When I was young, I knew the word “enough,” and I heard it very often from my parents. These days, children are born into excess and “enough” is afforded a negative value. Our poor, beautiful land. In Port Elizabeth, we have a Route 67 that honours the struggles that occurred in order to realize democracy almost 20 years ago. Some of the art depicts freedom and inspires optimism in those who notice it. I think it was a great idea. It is the type of project that makes you proud to be a
South African; makes you grateful to live in these times; makes you blind to reality. We are not free. Being able to express opinions and hold the hand of another colour does not make us free. Even the politicians — the corrupt and the fair — are restricted. Invisible forces, such as the World Bank and the IMF, hold our liberties at ransom. Our economies were made by the gods of consumption, and we have been created in their image. His tatty clothes matched his ruddy face. The little boy scratched his ashy skin, and looked at me, eyebrows raised. “Does your daddy have a car?” “Yes, he does,” I replied. “Does your mommy have a car?”
