Heritage transcends mere words; it embodies unique customs, communication and behavior. It is the legacy of past generations, both beneficial and harmful, that current and future generations will express.
Heritage represents the raw reality of our beginnings, whether bleak or beautiful. It is not just a collection of selective stories or the omission of regrettable events; it is the core of our history.
Contrived history deviates from reality, but often it is this illusion that humanity prefers. As Africans and especially South Africans, we often make the mistake of covering up our shortcomings while overlooking the sacred guidance that has shaped our identity.
A unique aspect of South Africa’s democratic legacy is its tendency to downplay the role of Christian influences in the emancipation of black individuals, preferring to embrace the idea that our liberation was self-actualized or owed to our ancestors and kings.
Contrary to popular belief, neither ancestors nor kings were able to prevent colonialism or embody the core of resistance. Southern Africa’s most effective resistance movement against European colonialism, and Africa’s oldest, the ANC was founded by black individuals deeply influenced by Christian theology.
But to forge a misleading narrative of ‘African power’ within a biased and racist modern history, some South Africans have wrongly identified Christianity as the problem, rather than the failure of Africa’s systems to unite its people .
In the film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013), both the titular character (played by Idris Elba) and his wife Winnie (played by Naomi Harris) express sentiments of “Will God help our people” and “We must save ourselves” , which reflects stories continually presented to South Africans.
However, such perspectives hardly address the enduring problems of black marginalization, landlessness, unemployment, and the enduring legacy of townships, homelands, crime, and violence, which largely arise from historical injustice.
Apart from this, the erasure of God and His relevance, another profound legacy in South Africa is the internalized self-loathing among black people. The main reason why generations of Africans continue to face dire circumstances after independence is that a race incapable of loving itself cannot unite for its upliftment. The more we believe that we can achieve this independently of God, as the Constitution suggests, the further we stray from our 1994 ambitions and start to resemble the worst of apartheid, if not pre-colonial times. – Khotso KD Moleko
READER LETTER
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