By: Themba J Nkosi
“At certain points in human history individuals emerge who teach us the power of dreams. They believe so profoundly in pursuing a dream and they pursue it with such tenacity and success that we begin to believe with them. They inspire hope and rekindle light even in the midst of great darkness.” by Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi
Last Saturday, 18 June, former President Thabo Mbeki celebrated his 80th birthday.
Two things among many came into mind were his: "I am An African" speech and his socio-political ideology of the African Renaissance. Like Richard Maponya, the Mbeki generation has been challenged to stand and be counted among nation builders as he utilised the political platform to achieve that mission.
Today as he mulls over the years he has lived and the political milestones reached, Mbeki should be reminded that his calling is far from being over, and his role can and will never be determined and confined by the political office he once occupied as the Head of State.
Mzizi must be humbly reminded that he is among a few individuals and leaders left from the generation who inherited the role of the pioneering leaders of African origin both locally and in the continent.
He should not forget that he is a firm bridge that links the past generation of leaders and young cadres with the current youth and future posterity. It rests firmly on his shoulders too to ensure that they inherit all that he and his generation tried to do and achieve.
Since Mbeki has an unfinished business which is also a challenge and battle lying ahead of him, among other things to focus on, he could also prioritise these three objectives.
He has a historical obligation to positively impact the lives of the next contingent of leaders, not necessarily only those who will be found in political circles.
This could be done through writing his political memoirs or autobiography. His admirers are itching to know about what you learnt when you sat at the feet of the African sages and former freedom fighters, the likes of Kenneth Kaunda, Julius Nyerere, Robert Mugabe and Ketumile Maseru, to mention a few galaxies of African thinkers.
You were also in a space which could be referred to as a well-chiselled door of opportunity as you spent most of your time with Oliver Tambo.
You drafted speeches and documents and took minutes for him during meetings. Young people need to know from the horse's mouth the greatest political and leadership lessons you learned under Tambo's tutelage.
What is it that you picked from him and it helped you a lot when you were both the Deputy President and President of the ANC and the country?
What could be done in ensuring that these freedom fighters' sacrifices and integrity do not go unnoticed by a future generation of leaders?
Nowadays, you would find an individual that is neither a cadre in the true sense nor a political nobody being rammed down the throat of his constituency and parachuted into influential positions.
This contributes to the killing of councillors and staging of protests ignited by the inability to deliver services like tarred roads, clean running water and garbage collection.
Fellow compatriots are thirsty for your political message as this country is enmeshed in corruption and careerist politicians.
There is something fundamentally lacking in their leadership approach.
This country does not deserve to inherit the leadership of dictators on the one hand and, on the other, an oligarchy that is determined to overstay its welcome both in their political parties by advancing the slate of camps and rigging votes on their way to the country’s highest office.
This deprives the country of patriotic and committed leaders and stifles growth and fruitful succession plan in political parties. Your voice of wisdom is needed to contribute in developing leadership and transmogrifying the political landscape of this country.
These irresponsible and opportunistic political goons and ambitious hypocrites regard their ideology as the only political gospel that is supposed to be preached in ensuring that their political message is amplified.
According to them everything they mention and do is timeless and sacrosanct.
You worked with the late President Nelson Mandela in the Government of National unity.
He was vocal in stating, "I am the president de jure, but Thabo Mbeki is a president de facto." How did you manage the first 100 days in office after Madiba retired as head of state and president of the ANC?
What are your impressions of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi as the Minister of Home Affairs, and what prompted you to suggest your wish that he be your Deputy President after 1999?
Your party was not forced constitutionally to do so. Why you supported that he be appointed an Acting State President as he was tasked more than 21 times in this role? Did you experience any opposition from senior and capable leaders of your party? Did the first meeting held on the 29th January 1991 between the IFP and ANC leadership later turned those resolutions and confessions into reality?
Was there a nexus between these two organizations during their three-day meeting held in London? What happened to the International Mediation Agreement signed on the 19th April 1994 which prompted the IFP to contest the first democratic elections six days before the voting day without campaigning?
Why were you so brave to be the first-ever ANC president to address the IFP National General Conference on 18 You also worked with the late President Nelson Mandela in the Government of National unity.
He was vocal in stating, "I am the president de jure, but Thabo Mbeki is a president de facto." How did you manage the first 100 days in office after Madiba retired as head of state and president of the ANC?
What are your impressions of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi as the Minister of Home Affairs, and what prompted you to suggest your wish that he be your Deputy President after 1999? Your party was not forced constitutionally to do so.
Why you supported that he be appointed an Acting State President as he was tasked more than 21 times? Did you experience any opposition from senior and capable leaders of your party? Did the first meeting held on 29 January 1991 between the IFP and ANC leadership(incomplete)?
What happened to the International Mediation, whose talks were promised to get off the ground immediately after the first-ever democratic elections on April 1994? Why were you so brave to be the first-ever ANC president to address the IFP National General Conference on 18th July 1998?
Mr President, the genuine reconciliation opportunities between the ANC and IFP has been scuppered in several ways. You are the only one alive who knows the truth and how Tambo held Buthelezi in high esteem until his last days.
Do you recall Tambo telling some ANC young members that “these young people do not know where we come from with Buthelezi?” Can you elaborate on that as some think he was a sell-out and government lackey?
What stops you from taking forward these historical talks of healing wounds on both sides of the political fence? What kind of future you want to be inherited by young members and future of these two parties?
Mzizi you and Shenge, on the 17th October 1998, unveiled the Peace Monument in Thokoza honouring all victims of the black-on-black violence; similar joint political gathering and cenotaphs were expected across Mpumalanga and Imbali townships around Pietermaritzburg.
What halted that initiative you started with the former IFP president? There was a palpable political air devoid of tolerance and acceptance, which turned townships into rivers of blood and villages into forever flowing streams of confrontation.
Do you realize that your socio-political mission in building this country is far from being over? People would love to see you instilling a culture of reading and writing, specifically among young people, a new generation of leaders, and the public at large.
You as an omnivorous reader and person of high erudition, would agree that a person who does not read is like a prisoner serving a lifetime sentence in jail without walls and surrounded by a dry as the twig environment 'riddled' with the deliberately twisted facts.
You owe young people regular provincial tours where you would meet with them, especially those who are willing to sit at your feet and be breastfed your milk of wisdom and oratory skills.
They are itching to be groomed by you in one way or the other and write their great speeches and quote poetry like you. Help them to carry forward your socio-political ideology, the African Renaissance and turn it into your magnum opus!
President Mbeki you are expected to form something more or less similar to The Elders grounded to the South African realities regarding the current political, social and economic challenges.
It could be a forum where experienced leaders and patriots who have an insatiable gusto to serve and change this country.
You may name it a Think Tank churning possible solutions and galvanize support and funds to build more infrastructure and ensure that young people’s needs are prioritized as presently they are the ‘cannon-fodders’ of every suffering.
The agenda should be dominated by high rate of unemployed youth, selling of drugs like cocaine and other narcotics, lack of reading and the conspicuous absence of a clear political agenda and lack of willpower to deliver by political representatives across all tiers of government; the local, provincial and national.
The likes of Musa Zondi, Mamphela Ramphele, Ruel Khoza, Suzanne Ackerman, Patrice Motsepe, Mamokgethi Phakeng, Jonathan Oppenheimer, Maud Motanyane, Dikgang Moseneke, Sakina Kamwendo, Marumo Moreane, Khanyi Dhlomo Kaizer Motaung, Chichi Maponya,Thami Mazwai, Saki Macozoma,Trevor Manuel, Musa Myeni, and Johann Rupert and other patriots.
It is hoped that you will accept this challenge and run with it until its fruition. We need you with these left years in your life to remain committed in this nation-building initiative which is a back-breaking exercise.
Facing head on or ignoring this challenge only time will tell whether you were a boy amongst men or man amongst boys! May your stature continue to grow sentinel and tower in our lives like the hovering Mountain Kilimanjaro.
May your words of wisdom sink to every listener and reader like the forever flowing Nile River conquering gently the dry as the desert soil of the African landscape.
May words continue to echo in your lifetime and long after you have departed these shoes like the gushing water of the Victoria falls calling our names to answer a call of serving our country.