Posted by Madibeng Kgwete: 25 March 2009
One of Jean-Paul Sartre’s observations in his famous preface to Franz Fanon’s book, The Wretched of the Earth, is that, during the colonial period: “The European élite undertook to manufacture a native elite,” singling out promising adolescents and branding them with the principles of western culture.
According to Sarte, the colonisers would take these promising young people to Western countries for indoctrination and then sent them home, whitewashed. “These walking lies,” Sartre says, “had nothing left to say to their brothers; they only echoed.”
For it to succeed, “the national revolution must be socialist; if its career is cut short, if the native bourgeoisie takes over power, the new State, in spite of its formal sovereignty, remains in the hands of the imperialists.”
When the colonizers come knocking, dressed up as liberators and modernizers, Sartre warns that “everything will be done to wipe out [the traditions of the colonized societies], to substitute our language for theirs and to destroy their culture without giving them ours.”
But how will that be done? Well, Sartre explains: “Sheer physical fatigue will stupefy them. Starved and ill, if they have any spirit left, fear will finish the job; guns are levelled at the peasant; civilians come to take over his land and force him by dint of flogging to till the land for them.
“If he shows fight, the soldiers fire and he’s a dead man; if he gives in, he degrades himself and he is no longer a man at all; shame and fear will split up his character and make his inmost self fall to pieces.”
The reason so many different tribal groups in former colonies fight against each other is this: “they cannot face the real enemy,” says Sartre — “and you can count on colonial policy to keep up their rivalries.”
Look at Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for example. When President Mwai Kibaki was announced as winner after the December 2007 elections, the opposition, led by Raila Odinga, disputed the results; and what happened? The poor went on rampage on the streets, fighting along tribal lines.
In the midst of the riots, between 700 and 1000 people were left dead, with an estimated 260 000 more displaced because of violence, fought along narrow party political and tribal lines. And what would Sartre say? “They cannot face the real enemy” – the power-hungry leaders who incite violence and fight for positions using the poor.
Whatever our fate as Africans, we can’t say we were never warned. We can’t always quote Greek philosophers when we had amongst us the likes of Fanon and his fellow comrades in the struggle for freedom: freedom from colonialism, imperialism, hunger, fear, as well as economic and cultural dependence on former masters.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Will the Doubting Thomases ever be satisfied?
Posted by Madibeng Kgwete: 17 March 2009
Not so long ago, South Africans marked 500 days to the start of the historic 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Various stakeholders involved in delivering the soccer spectacle - and soccer lovers across the country and the world - used the occasion to reflect on the road travelled up to now, and what remains to be done.
We got together to celebrate the great opportunity accorded to us as a young democratic county. Many in the international media celebrated with us, dedicating significant space and airtime to help us communicate the message that, indeed, "Africa's time has come: South Africa is ready."
Considering the amount of work done so far on 2010 projects, there should be no need to be issuing out assurances that South Africa will be ready to host a successful FIFA World Cup come 2010. The work now speaks for itself. Our country is now literally a construction site.
The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup will be taking place in a few months from now; and there is no doubt that all the four host cities will be ready come the day. Everything is shaping up and tickets to both the Confederations Cup and the World Cup are already on sale.
Whilst many of us are preparing to welcome soccer lovers to our shores next year, sceptics remain unconvinced that we'll be able to host a successful tournament.
They ask a lot of questions about a wide range of issues, ranging from crime, match attendance to the very usefulness of hosting the biggest soccer tournament in the world.
Ideally, the sceptics shouldn't be asking questions at this stage of our preparations, because the work now speaks for itself.
But, they continue to ask:"What if criminals take advantage of unsuspecting tourists? Will the police be up to the task? Will our hotels be able to accommodate the volume of spectators expected? What if the fans don't pitch and the stadiums are empty?"
Some even go as far as asking: "What is the point of spending so much money on upgrading infrastructure for the world cup when so many South Africans are poor and in need of state intervention? Aren't the tickets unaffordable, particularly given the levels of poverty in our country and continent? Won't the stadiums become white elephants after 2010?"
These are justifiable questions, except for the fact that some of the most vocal Doubting Thomases asking these questions look the other way when presented with facts.
Some of them, though, ask these questions innocently, acting out of utter ignorance.
There are certain realities the 2010 sceptics do not want to admit; and these include the fact that:
* The FIFA World Cup is coming to South Africa; and there is no turning back. Africa's time has come: South Africa is ready.
* People are already benefiting from 2010 opportunities. Just ask the construction workers in the stadiums, on the roads, on our telecommunications infrastructure, in the offices.
* 2010 is a great opportunity to market South Africa internationally; and some of the soccer tourists will hopefully return years after the tournament.
* Many of the stadiums are actually multi-purpose centres, to be used for a variety of occasions well into the future.
NB: This article also appears on News24, available on the following link:
http://www.news24.com/News24/MyNews24/Your_story/0,,2-2127-2128_2481133,00.html
Not so long ago, South Africans marked 500 days to the start of the historic 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Various stakeholders involved in delivering the soccer spectacle - and soccer lovers across the country and the world - used the occasion to reflect on the road travelled up to now, and what remains to be done.
We got together to celebrate the great opportunity accorded to us as a young democratic county. Many in the international media celebrated with us, dedicating significant space and airtime to help us communicate the message that, indeed, "Africa's time has come: South Africa is ready."
Considering the amount of work done so far on 2010 projects, there should be no need to be issuing out assurances that South Africa will be ready to host a successful FIFA World Cup come 2010. The work now speaks for itself. Our country is now literally a construction site.
The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup will be taking place in a few months from now; and there is no doubt that all the four host cities will be ready come the day. Everything is shaping up and tickets to both the Confederations Cup and the World Cup are already on sale.
Whilst many of us are preparing to welcome soccer lovers to our shores next year, sceptics remain unconvinced that we'll be able to host a successful tournament.
They ask a lot of questions about a wide range of issues, ranging from crime, match attendance to the very usefulness of hosting the biggest soccer tournament in the world.
Ideally, the sceptics shouldn't be asking questions at this stage of our preparations, because the work now speaks for itself.
But, they continue to ask:"What if criminals take advantage of unsuspecting tourists? Will the police be up to the task? Will our hotels be able to accommodate the volume of spectators expected? What if the fans don't pitch and the stadiums are empty?"
Some even go as far as asking: "What is the point of spending so much money on upgrading infrastructure for the world cup when so many South Africans are poor and in need of state intervention? Aren't the tickets unaffordable, particularly given the levels of poverty in our country and continent? Won't the stadiums become white elephants after 2010?"
These are justifiable questions, except for the fact that some of the most vocal Doubting Thomases asking these questions look the other way when presented with facts.
Some of them, though, ask these questions innocently, acting out of utter ignorance.
There are certain realities the 2010 sceptics do not want to admit; and these include the fact that:
* The FIFA World Cup is coming to South Africa; and there is no turning back. Africa's time has come: South Africa is ready.
* People are already benefiting from 2010 opportunities. Just ask the construction workers in the stadiums, on the roads, on our telecommunications infrastructure, in the offices.
* 2010 is a great opportunity to market South Africa internationally; and some of the soccer tourists will hopefully return years after the tournament.
* Many of the stadiums are actually multi-purpose centres, to be used for a variety of occasions well into the future.
NB: This article also appears on News24, available on the following link:
http://www.news24.com/News24/MyNews24/Your_story/0,,2-2127-2128_2481133,00.html
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