Njongonkulu Ndungane: Ubuntu We stand on the threshold of opportunities which range from building on the economic strength of a country that arguably has one of the most developed infrastructures in Africa, to the challenge of ensuring that our fledgling democracy works.
But we also face many other hurdles. All the good intentions and wise words in the world will mean nothing unless we are able to promote and practise the values of ubuntu – the name of this new column.
The Nguni word ubuntu is one that most people are familiar with. It is widely used, sometimes with an abandon that does not recognise the depth of its meaning.
This is no doubt because it is one of those words which come into the vocabulary of a nation every now and then, and become the vogue – some might say politically correct.
We have seen ubuntu used in areas where one would have been least likely to find it, say, 10 years ago. Some corporate businesses have built it into their vision, mission and value statements, ascribing their own meaning to it to ensure it “adds value” to their business operations. Politicians and civil society have used it to advance their own agendas, while religious organisations have also not been tardy in using the concept.
But the real issue facing us is how do people practise ubuntu? There are various interpretations of the word, but these generally do not approach a faithful understanding of its deep philosophy. Neither is there recognition that ubuntu should be embodied in all that we do – the big acts of society and the little acts of kindness of the individual.
Professor CLS Nyembezi, the respected and well-known academic from KwaZulu-Natal, has written that ubuntu is to live and care for others; act kindly towards others; be hospitable; be just and fair; be compassionate; assist those in distress; be trustful and honest; and have good morals.
Ubuntu, meaning personhood, has a uniqueness about it, summing up all these values in a simple, six-letter word and elevating the person to a plane near to godliness.
It is not to be used lightly.
Given its origins, it is also important to remember that the values it involves place a strong emphasis on the respect paid to ancestors and traditions, and to various religious mores. Practised in faith, it would promote the values we require now in our land. As we grapple with the evils in our midst, we should adopt the eight issues identified in this definition as the tenets of our faith as new South Africans.
As we develop this column, we will explore these tenets in the context of our developing nation. For the collapse of the values that should underpin our new society is the antithesis of ubuntu.
The appalling crime rate, ongoing violence and thuggery, rape, murder and verbal abuse are all alien to it. People committing the heinous deeds are not only evil but, in the context of ubuntu, do not deserve to be Africans.
Yet they are.
We therefore face the enormous challenge of teaching people about ubuntu. This is the responsibility of the government – to introduce it in the curriculums of our schools and universities, for example – business, the media, religious institutions and parents.
Most importantly, people must see this teaching occurring, experience it in their own lives and practise it. The past four years have taught us that one vote does not guarantee a free society in which we can be crime-free and proud to bring up our children. It is a huge responsibility for all. Only when ubuntu is practised in all its fullness will honesty, truth and righteousness prevail. Then the word “transparency” will take on dimensions never dreamed of by those who first coined it.
Society will be able to trust all the authority figures in its midst – those in government who pay the pensions, the police, business people, religious leaders, politicians, health and care workers, and teachers. All will have a new respect about them, and for one another.
And South Africans will be able to walk tall without fear of muggings, heists, hijackings, fraud and the like.