Learn something new...

2008-12-23 08:22

David Moseley

I guess if you're not learning something new every year, then you're not really living. This year I learnt that KFC Zingers are far spicier in the UK than they are in South Africa, I realised I can't play soccer on the PlayStation after five draughts, and, most importantly, I finally managed to get the maid to stop ironing over the prints on my clothing. I had to take the iron away from her. But still, at least my t-shirts survived the year.

A more effective lesson, though, came courtesy of the many moaning and wailing politicians that inhabit the country. It seems to me that they just can't let go. They can't let go of the injustices of the past, they can't forget the wrongs, and they seem set against evolving beyond the caricature of a man (or woman) in power - only there for the good times, happy to cash in when they can, turning a blind eye when the heat is really on.

This is not to say that the past must be forgotten. It shouldn't. The past needs to remain thick in the conscious of all South Africans who want a better life. But the way the past is used can be changed. I get the impression, as a concerned, albeit casual, observer and very much a man in love with his own country, that many of our leaders are happy to go on decrying the atrocities of years gone by, but without actually setting a course for real conciliation.

Forgive and forget

An extreme example of this if the sheer lunacy of Robert Mugabe's "leadership" in Zimbabwe. Everything from Cholera outbreaks to new Madonna singles are fingered by Zim's own Dear Leader as a legacy of British rule.

Closer to home, the split in the ANC (and messy aftermath of mud-slinging) that led to the formation of Mosiuoa Lekota's Cope, hinted that maybe not everyone in South Africa is ready to forgive the sins of past cruel fathers.

I'm just speculating, of course, but when reading the reports and listening to the rhetoric between JZ and Terror you get the feeling that some of the comrades are still fighting for injustices that aren't exactly there (or, in 2008, shouldn't be present).

It's not easy to forgive and forget. And only the truly great men and women seem to do it without any hint of bitterness. It also seems overly simplistic to suggest that simply dealing with past, accepting it as that - the past, is the only way forward for a peaceful and happy South Africa.

But then again, maybe it just as easy as that. Remembering the past in the wrong way - as a tool to generate anger and spite - has never worked well for anyone.

Merry Christmas.

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