The dismantling of colonial era relics and legacies is a vital, albeit long and tedious process. Whether it’s the renaming of a street, the removal of a statue, or the rewriting of laws, it is often a time-consuming process eliciting complaints, petitions and even legal action. But vital it is, as we have to build a future on the best of our past, not the worst. One of the most important colonial era rituals which is being eliminated quite efficiently by the ANC – and without attracting much attention – is the notion of celebrating success. The mere concept of…
The dismantling of colonial era relics and legacies is a vital, albeit long and tedious process.
Whether it’s the renaming of a street, the removal of a statue, or the rewriting of laws, it is often a time-consuming process eliciting complaints, petitions and even legal action.
But vital it is, as we have to build a future on the best of our past, not the worst. One of the most important colonial era rituals which is being eliminated quite efficiently by the ANC – and without attracting much attention – is the notion of celebrating success.
The mere concept of success is the ultimate form of inequality. It suggests that one individual is better at something than his or her peers.
This inequality has no place in any modern African state. It’s very un-Ubuntu. Instead, the ANC has not only mastered the art of celebrating failure, but it has also achieved the unthinkable: it has convinced us that it is worth celebrating.
Honestly, we are celebrating teenage pregnancies by rewarding the young mothers with government grants, while making access to universities impossible. We are celebrating the destruction of state-owned enterprises by paying the cadres deployed there millions of rands in salaries and bonuses.
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Why do people celebrate success? The psychology textbooks tell us celebrating success allows one the opportunity to pinpoint exactly what worked so that it can be repeated in future.
It can also boost one’s self-confidence. The same obviously applies to the ANC’s perpetual celebration of failure. They know exactly how to fail and are motivated more than ever to escalate it.
On Wednesday, when Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivers his maiden budget speech, the loudest cheer will follow his announcement that more than 20 million South Africans are dependent on social grants. Yes, we will celebrate the fact that the ANC has destroyed the economy.
Apart from state capture, this is the biggest single failure by the ANC, yet it will be celebrated as if it is the biggest achievement.
