Opinion - December 16 remains a significant day in the history of South Africa.
It is a day which gives us an opportunity to reflect on our difficult past and how we overcame trials and tribulations associated with it, arriving at where we find ourselves today.
Our past is characterised in our distant history by colonialism and, in more recent times, by racial prejudice accompanied by socio-economic and political oppression of the black majority population by a white minority government.
A government which used every instrument of state to suppress all progressive elements of South African society struggling for freedom from the bondage of apartheid and for the cause of achieving universal suffrage.
In the 1920s and 1930s, December 16 was a day that highlighted divisions in the country.
For white people, particularly Afrikaners, the day symbolised a “victory” over African people.
On the contrary, for those who actively opposed white domination and racism, the date became a rallying point for protests.
Soon after the first democratic elections in 1994, December 16 was declared a public holiday.
So the annual celebration of the day came to be seen as an attempt to strike a balance between a divided past and promotion of national unity and reconciliation, under a new political dispensation.
In order to understand the magnitude of the task at hand, we must look briefly at the definition of the term “reconciliation”.
Broadly speaking, it refers to an act of causing two contending people or groups, who see each other as enemies, to come to an agreement or an amicable truce.
Seen within the context of such a definition, I would argue there exists sufficient indicators, which suggests that South African society, post the Truth and Reconciliation Commission process, is yet to be fully reconciled.
Therefore, the annual celebration of this day will not help achieve the desired goal of reconciliation.
It cannot be achieved through an event. It will have to be achieved through a process involving civil society, the media and every political formation.
The project of reconciliation requires mature leadership. A leadership, which exercises a high degree of responsibility in terms of words and deeds.
We recently saw persons associated with the president of this country solicit the services of Bell Pottinger, a foreign based PR firm, which embarked on a vicious campaign in an effort to “divide and conquer” the South African public and to keep President Jacob Zuma and his cronies in power.
It was the DA that complained to the Public Relations and Communications Association, which subsequently resulted in the PR firm being expelled from the association.
Every time a political leader makes racist comments, engages in populist rhetoric or resorts to using the race card in an effort to divert attention from his or her own personal misdeeds or political party's failings, we are further away from achieving the desired goal of reconciliation.
It is such irresponsible actions by leaders which actively undermine the cause for national reconciliation.
Reconciliation is also defined as a process of making someone or something consistent or compatible.
By such definition, reconciliation cannot and will not find traction in a society void of social justice.
A society where the divide between the haves and have-nots progressively widens by the day, creating an atmosphere of mutual distrust.
I would argue that such toxic atmosphere in a society is definitely not conducive for the project of reconciliation.
It is no good talking to an unemployed and hungry person about reconciliation.
If the government is serious about reconciliation, it must work tirelessly towards providing our people with the necessary tools to improve their quality of life, through the provision of sound education, skills, good health and real job opportunities.
This is the DA's challenge today.