How do we manifest our identity as Africans without reference to an African value system? Why are the ancestors no longer honoured? How do we ”respect those who have worked to build and develop our country” — to use a phrase from our Constitution — if we ignore the contribution of pre-colonial Africans under whose custodianship of land and culture the time-honoured philosophy of Ubuntu evolved? How is it possible to ”free the potential of each person” while remaining shackled to archaic, fear-based, patriarchal doctrines that impose a need for belief in mystery, miracles, prophecy, a chosen people (which amounts to divinely sanctioned racism), the thoroughly debilitating concept of ”original sin” and the arrogant assertion of ”dominion over all the earth”?
It remains an enigma that Jesus himself wrote nothing down, and, reduced to its essential elements, his message advocates the virtues of love, compassion and respect. Ubuntu-botho broadly celebrates the same values. Translated as directly as possible, it means ”the art or virtue of being human”. In Ubuntu: The Essence of Democracy, Mfunisela John Bhengu says, ”There is no need for universal sameness. It is possible to respect human rights as well as all other values related to them and still maintain one’s identity.” Bhengu continues, ”… the Zulus would say Umuntu ngumuntu. This is their way of saying the person defines himself in everything he does; that in every one of his thoughts, modes of behaviour and deeds he tells his family, neighbours, society, the world and the cosmic order what sort of person he is. The person and his neighbour are fulfilled when their personalities are improved by what they share. In this regard, the person and his neighbour are mutually-fulfilling complements.”
This is the polar opposite of ”original sin”, and it is clear that, whereas the Christian perspective creates doubt, suspicion and division, Ubuntu contributes positively to the establishment of mutual trust and respect between individuals. The same degree of progressive thinking is discernible in the greater social arena. Bhengu describes it as follows: ”… Zulu law, which is an extension of the law, draws a distinction between guilt and culpability and seeks to focus as much on the person’s wilful desire to remain ignorant and lead an evil life as on his society’s failure to equip him and enable him to be the best that he could be.”
Sadly, Bhengu’s definition of Ubuntu, like the South African Constitution, makes no attempt to consider the rights of animals, and consequently fails to recognise that the virtue of compassion can never be partial. A compassionate attitude is either present or absent, and it cannot be turned on and off to suit our convenience.
In the traditional way of life in Africa, there was a close relationship between the human world and the animal world. Credo Mutwa — among others — has spoken of the respect that the ancestors had, not just for larger animals, but for all living creatures, even the lowliest of earthworms. And, if you have reverence for an earthworm, it is hard to imagine how you can wish to do harm to any form of life.
The continued use of gin traps is but one example of a selective sense of compassion. Banned in most ”civilised” countries, they are still legal in South Africa and having penned several letters to our minister of environmental affairs and tourism on the subject myself, I can say with full confidence that he doesn’t personally give a toss about the continued use of these barbaric traps. Or, alternatively, he is representative of a government that places a low priority on conservation and that is simply unable to comprehend the interconnectedness of animal and human rights.
Political and religious leaders do little to stop the accelerating levels of environmental destruction that characterise contemporary Africa and, in this respect, have failed to honour either the traditions of the ancestors or the threatened legacy of future generations. Allusions to an ”African renaissance” and ”moral regeneration” are unsupported by any tangible evidence that would suggest how such urgently necessary change might be accomplished. Tom Paine envisaged a time when the ”annexed redundancies” of religion might be dispensed with and a new value system arise in its place. There has never been a better time, and Africa, through its philosophy of Ubuntu, is uniquely equipped to initiate the change of consciousness that an ever-escalating global ecological and social crisis demands. In the words of Hunbatz Men, a Native American: ”Wisdom does not belong to one person. We need to act in accord with wisdom, but it does not belong to anyone. It is the illumination of old and proven ideas through generation after generation of discovering natural law.”
Amending our Constitution to reflect a more humane attitude towards our fellow creatures might be a good place to start.