We Mogale residents don’t subscribe to the notion “united we stand, divided we fall’. Neither do we believe in unity is strength – this extends to other areas as well. In addition: we have also thrown the spirit of Ubuntu out of the window.
There is a lot that brings us together but we choose to work in silos. For instance, those who are well-off go on with their lives as if the poor don’t exist. They put no effort whatsoever into helping fight poverty. This doesn’t benefit us in anyway.
Sports unifies. The 2010 Soccer World Cup, which was hosted by our country, is a classical example. We were all fully behind our national soccer team, Bafana Bafana, which was unfortunately booted out of the first round of the prestigious tournament.
But in Mogale we don’t have a sports league that includes blacks and whites. Blacks play soccer in the townships, whites play rugby in the town – just like in the past. There is nothing that suggests that this will change any time soon.
Politicians use our divisions to their advantage. They work hard to ensure that we remain apart, because they know that there is power in unity. The truth is that they are afraid of a united citizenry, for obvious reasons. Don’t let them fool you: the unity talk that they sometimes talk is just lip service.
Students in the higher learning institutions are united in their resolve for free education. I may not agree with their violent protests and burning of university property, but they sure make a typical example of a united group. Last year they succeeded in forcing government not to increase the 2016 fees. They succeeded because they are united.
The challenges we are facing as citizens demand us to be united. We’ll never win the fight against corruption, racism and poverty if we remain comfortable in our divisions. It’s time we unite and face our challenges together. Two heads are better than one.
