South Africans are pretty special and no matter what politicians do, most of us just get on with making things work, writes Imraan Buccus.
There is plenty to be depressed about in our country. The Guptas and various other predatory state actors have captured a democratic state and turned it into a vehicle for private accumulation.
Our debates are broad ranging - from debates around state capture, to Nkandla and the National Prosecution Authority head, Shaun Abrahams. The list is long.
The merry-go-round of public life doesn’t seem to offer much more than an increasingly self-interested circulation of elites. We are, as commentator Alistair Sparks wrote a few years ago, now an ordinary country.
These days we, like, say Mexico or Brazil, are just another middle-Âincome country without too many grand dreams. But most people in this world make their lives in ordinary countries and there is plenty for us to be happy with here in South Africa.
There seems to be growing hostility to the free media but civil society has demonstrated a vigorous willingness to defend media freedom and this space is far from lost. Some may argue that there are signs of discomfort with a credible and independent judiciary, but it’s clear that civil society has no intention of giving up that space without a fight.
The give and take of political contestation in our democracy is not producing ideal outcomes. We could all imagine much better scenarios. But it is, nonetheless, working. Debates may get uglier and are often personalised or needlessly racialised.
But they are happening and they have results. Things are far from perfect but they’re not perfect anywhere and, in the grand scheme of things, we’re doing okay.
Life, of course, is not all about politics. For most of us life is a lot more about our families, friends and relatives, and, our shared obsession with sport. Thousands of people rally around the soccer and rugby teams and give Olympic stars a rousing welcome. These people, with their patriotism, and their sense of fun and optimism, are far more typical of the attitude of the average South African than the state looters.
You just have to watch Idols to see the extraordinary talent of young South Africans, the enthusiastic support that they get from their families and friends, and the tremendous optimism and enthusiasm that they bring to what they do. With young people like that it’s certain that we’ll be okay.
As a society we’ve produced an incredible array of extraordinary people over the years.
In sports, academia, the arts and politics we’ve produced some of the most incredible people in the world. There are not many countries that can boast the likes of John and Jean Comaroff, Errol Tobias, Simphiwe Dana, Johnny Clegg, Nelson Mandela or Steve Biko.
In many respects those of us with enough money to cover our basic needs live a charmed life here. We have beautiful beaches, mountains, a vibrant sports culture, good schools and universities, vibrant cities and a rich cultural life.
Here in Durban we can enjoy the latest high culture brought to our city by the Centre for Creative Arts, the real jewel in the UKZN crown, one evening, spend the next morning on our wonderful beachfront and then a rugby game at which we can support one of the best local teams in the world.
For a city of our size we’re really doing pretty well in some ways. And of course, as anyone who has ever done time in England or spent a winter in Cape Town will agree, our weather is nothing short of glorious.
We come out of a deeply traumatic past and it will take a very long time to erase the scars and heal the wounds of that past. Along with the way there will be plenty of people who exploit that history for their narrow gain.
But in the end we’ll be okay because the people are okay.
Our politicians aren’t going to save us. Often they’re little more than a kind of tax on the energies and creativity of society.
But South Africa will be okay because, on the whole, South Africans are pretty special people. We love our country and whatever the politicians do, most of us will just get on with making things work.
And we’ll do it with creativity, tenacity and the sort of informal can-do attitude that has come to define us as a people.
* Buccus is senior research associate at ASRI, research fellow in the School of Politics at UKZN and academic director of a university study abroad programme.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
The Mercury