National identity & the new Parliamentary Symbol

On 27 March 2007 the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces convened in a Joint Sitting to launch a new Coat of Arms of the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa. The launch took place in a solemn ceremony befitting the fact that like other national symbols that represent our sense of national identity, we must treat the Parliamentary Coat of Arms with all necessary dignity.

The launch of the Parliamentary Coat of Arms once more brought to the fore the challenge we continue to face - the challenge to answer the question "who are we?" What is it that constitutes our national identity? Indeed, a mere thirteen years after our liberation, after centuries of the divisions and the identities imposed by colonialism and apartheid, would it not be irrational to expect that we have succeeded to evolve a common sense of national identity?

In some ways it is easy to answer the question - who are we! We could simply say that we are South African. This is confirmed by the Identity Documents we carry and all the rights that extend to us as South Africans. We could simply say that our South African-ness is also confirmed by the fact that we unite in celebration, across the dividing lines of the past, whenever Bafana Bafana, the Springboks, the Proteas and our athletes score important victories.

And yet there are other things some of us do other than win sporting trophies. Our society continues to experience intolerably high levels of violence. We continue to experience the dastardly phenomenon of the rape not only of women, but also of infants.

We have to wage a continuous struggle against corrupt practices, in terms of which some among us abuse their positions of authority to steal from the poorest means of livelihood that literally stand as the only barrier between life and death. We still have to contend with many incidents of racist abuse and racial discrimination.

We must therefore ask ourselves the question - are these the things that define our national identity? Accordingly, we must pose to ourselves the challenge that our national identity is defined by much more than the fact that we are by birth or naturalisation South African, that we sing one National Anthem, that we salute one National Flag and extend respect to one National Coat of Arms.

Accepting that all these national symbols represent our national identity, we must also teach ourselves that they constitute a clarion call to all of us to behave in particular ways that would make it possible for all of us to stand up at all times and everywhere and proclaim - I am proudly South African!

Of the Parliamentary Coat of Arms, the Parliamentary Website says: "After 1994, South Africans were embracing and enjoying a newfound freedom. The task of correcting the wrongs of the past, however, was an all-encompassing one. Thirteen years after democracy much has been achieved, but a few important things were yet to be restored. A new nation needs new symbols to identify with, to look up to and draw inspiration from...

"A new emblem that is representative of Parliament's role in society would inspire Members and Officials to uphold its values and strive for the ideals set out in our Constitution. The new emblem would also serve to unite and educate the public as to the role of Parliament in their everyday lives...

"The Joint Rules Committee ruled that the new emblem:

• should reflect our diverse multi-cultural society while still showing the unity of our nation;
• should celebrate our democracy and our country's new beginning while upholding the dignity and stature of the institution;
• had to be dignified and aesthetically pleasing, yet meaningful and simple with a distinctive African flavour.

"The philosophy (informing its design) had to convey that Parliament is a people's Parliament which acts as my voice ensuring government by the people under the Constitution. It is where my elected representatives assemble to consider national and provincial issues that affect me. Parliament is responsive to my needs and is driven by the ideals of improving my quality of life. It upholds my values of democracy, social justice and fundamental human rights..."

These observations make the firm statement that our national identity should be characterised among others, by national unity, a democratic system that is responsive to the needs of the people, respect for fundamental human rights, social justice, and a better quality of life for all our people. Thus, as each one of us stands up to sing the National Anthem or salute the National Flag, we must ask ourselves the question - as a proud South African, am I doing the things that will give substance to this vision?

Unavoidably, the realisation of this objective must surely mean that to give birth to the new national identity, we must unite in action to eradicate the legacy of colonialism and apartheid. Regardless of the number of national symbols we create and accept, as we have done with our National Anthem and Flag, the new national identity will not materialise unless we radically depart from the old social reality against which we engaged in struggle.

In this regard, speaking at Queens University in Canada in May 2004, on "Race and Reconciliation in a Post-TRC South Africa", Nahla Valji, researcher at the (South African) Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, said:

"The avoidance of a painful but necessary dialogue on race and racism during the life of the TRC continues today, lending itself to the persistence of racial inequalities in new guises...

"In many ways the application of the thin bandage of rainbow nation reconciliation has merely allowed the wounds of the past to fester beneath the surface. Racially-motivated incidents today are treated as deviant extremes, isolated from their context in a broader spectrum of problematic relations. Similarly, in the new social discourse adopted through the transition, 'racism' has come to be associated as the most radical of evils, as opposed to merely an acknowledgement of the impact of generations of socialization. Examples of the denial of racist attitudes abound in the popular press.

"Wouter Basson former head of the apartheid state's chemical and biological warfare programme, was charged with, amongst other crimes, conducting experiments to create diseases and sterilization measures aimed only at blacks. In interviews with the press Basson vehemently denied that he was racist, and claims that he was merely "doing his job". In a similar vein, Judge Johan Els of the Pretoria High Court recently handed down a fine of R36,000 to a farmer who ran over his worker with his truck and killed him in anger when the worker failed to arrive for work that morning. The judge remarked in his judgement that he was "satisfied that the incident had not been racially based" ('Bakkie killing 'not racially motivated'', 2004).

"In the same way that one would be hard pressed to find a South African who voted for the National Party in the past, it is equally improbable that any South African would openly admit the influence of a racialised past on their own attitudes and behaviour. This is not to say that the demonisation of racism is not a progression or that a common moral denunciation of such attitudes is not positive. However when coupled with a failure to address the legacy of historical racism, an unwillingness to see racism in its everyday manifestations means ironically that this legacy is only preserved through a premature celebration of reconciliation."

In these words, Nahla Valji points to the reality that the new national identity represented by our Parliamentary Coat of Arms and our other National Symbols remains, as yet, work in progress. In this regard, Professor Njabulo Ndebele has said: "The emergence of an identity, with social values embedded in it, will in time, solidify into memories of cultural practice, which can be both a blessing and a curse, that predispose us to replicate our values and social practices wherever we are in the world."

This, indeed, must be the goal towards which we aspire - the emergence of a new national identity, with social values embedded in it, which will, in time, solidify into memories of cultural practice that predispose us to replicate our values and social practices wherever we are in the world.

And of the greatest importance in this regard, embedded in that new national identity must be the values of ubuntu shared by all our people, regardless of race and colour, which would mobilise all our people to unite against such evil practices as violence against the person, abuse of women and children, corruption, racism and repudiation of the principle of human solidarity, in terms of which we are to one another our brother's and sister's keeper.

It surely must be our collective victory over these social ills, rather than famous victories on the sports field, that inspire each one of us to stand up at all times and everywhere and proclaim - I am proudly South African! It is only in this context that our new National Symbols, including the Parliamentary Coat of Arms, assume their true significance. This imposes the obligation on all of us to inculcate in our minds and our souls, including the young and the old, respect for these Symbols as a constant reminder that we share a common task to build a people-centred and caring society.

On 27 March, our Members of Parliament explained the value system contained within and represented by the Parliamentary Coat of Arms. When we launched our National Coat of Arms on Freedom Day, 27 April 2000, we also sought to do the same saying, among other things:

"(Our Coat of Arms) is both South African and African. It is both African and universal...It represents the permanent yet evolving identity of the South African people as it shapes itself through time and space...

"We seek to embrace the indigenous belief systems of our people, by demonstrating our respect for the relationship between people and nature, which for millions of years has been fundamental to our self-understanding of our African condition. It recollects the times when our people believed that there was a force permeating nature which linked the living with the dead.

"It pays tribute to our land and our continent as the cradle of humanity, as the place where human life first began...Above the bird is the rising sun, a force that gives life while it represents the flight of darkness and the triumph of discovery, knowledge, the understanding of things that have been hidden, illuminating also the new life that is coming into being - our new nation as it is born and evolves.

"Below the bird, is the protea, an indigenous flower of our land which represents beauty, the aesthetic harmony of our cultures, our flowering as a nation as we grow towards the sun.

"The tusks of the African elephant, reproduced in pairs to represent men and women, symbolise wisdom, steadfastness and strength.

"At the centre stands a shield which signifies the protection of our being from one generation to the other...This shield of peace, that also suggests an African drum, thus, simultaneously, conveys the message of a people imbued with love for culture, its upper part as a shield being imaginatively represented by the protea.

"Contained within the shield are some of the earliest representations of the human person in the world. Those depicted, who were the very first inhabitants of our land, the Khoisan people, speak to our commitment to celebrate humanity and to advance the cause of the fulfilment of all human beings in our country and throughout the world...

"The motto of our new Coat of Arms, written in the Khoisan language of the /Xam people, means: diverse people unite or people who are different join together. We have chosen an ancient language of our people. This language is now extinct as no one lives who speaks it as his or her mother-tongue.

"This emphasises the tragedy of the millions of human beings who, through the ages, have perished and even ceased to exist as peoples, because of peoples' inhumanity to others. It also says that we, ourselves, can never be fully human if any people is wiped off the face of the earth, because each one of us is a particle of the complete whole.

"By inscribing these words on our Coat of Arms - !ke e: /xarra //ke - we make a commitment to value life, to respect all languages and cultures and to oppose racism, sexism, chauvinism and genocide. Thus do we pledge to respect the obligation which human evolution has imposed on us - to honour the fact that in this country that we have inherited together is to be found one of the birthplaces of humanity itself.

"Here in the language of our ancient past, we speak to present generations and those who are still to come about the importance of human solidarity and unity. We say that in the heart of every individual resides an inner necessity, an essential humanity that compels each person, each people, to unite with another. This impulse and this conscious action makes us who we are and tells us where we as a South African people want to go...

"I ask you all who are gathered here today to embrace this Coat of Arms as your own, to own it as a common possession, representing the aspirations of a winning nation that is conscious of the challenges that lie ahead and is confident of its capacity to overcome its difficulties...

"As our flag flies proudly on its mast, evoking an intense spirit of an inclusive national identity, so must this Coat of Arms, which exemplifies the extraordinary creativity of our people through the ages, inspire our united and diverse nation to strive to shine as brightly as the sun."

May the new Parliamentary Coat of Arms also serve further to inspire all of us to strive towards the achievement of a new national identity defined by the creation of a united and diverse nation that will shine as brightly as the sun, because it upholds the values of ubuntu.

Policy Discussion Documents I

Economic transformation for a national democratic society

The achievement of democracy in 1994 provided South Africans with the opportunity to pursue economic growth, development and redistribution with the goal of a better life for all. Yet the country is only at the beginning of an historic transformation of the economy.

The ANC has a vision of a thriving, integrated and sustainable economy:

• that draws on the creativity and skills of our population to create employment opportunities for the benefit of all;
• in which increasing social equality and economic growth form a virtuous cycle of development;
• in which national prosperity is ensured through innovation and cutting-edge technology, labour-absorbing industrial development, a thriving small business and cooperative sector, and efficient forms of production and management;
• in which the socio-economic rights of all are progressively realised, including through fair labour practices, social security for the poor, the realisation of universal access to basic services and ongoing anti-poverty campaigns;
• where state, cooperative and other forms of social ownership exist together with private capital in a constructive relationship;
• that is connected to the world, benefiting from vibrant trade relations with North and South, and which is an integral part of a balanced regional economy.

South Africa is still some way from the achievement of this vision. Therefore, the basic economic tasks of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) must remain the same - the eradication of the socioeconomic legacy of apartheid, the creation of employment and the defeat of poverty.

The ANC's economic policy stances have remained consistent throughout the era of liberation. The challenge is not the elaboration of an entirely new policy paradigm, but the identification of critical interventions to accelerate implementation. At the same time there must be room to refine and improve our policy stances on the basis of a clear analysis of the lessons learnt.

A developmental state

The changes we seek cannot emerge spontaneously from the 'invisible hand' of the market. The state must play a strategic role in shaping the contours of economic development. The developmental state must be lead in the definition of a common national agenda, mobilising society to take part in its implementation and directing society's resources towards this common programme.

The organisational and technical capacity of the state to implement its programmes therefore needs to be developed. There needs to be strengthened capacity for economic planning at the centre of government. There should be an institutional centre with the necessary resources and authority to ensure long and medium term economic planning is conducted. There should also be a common framework for planning across all three spheres of government.

The developmental needs of the country mean that the state should maintain its strategic role in a number of key economic sectors, including through continued ownership of state owned enterprises (SOEs). These sectors include energy and the national transport and logistics system.

The ANC and the democratic state must ask how to act more effectively to mobilise the private sector behind the objectives of economic transformation. On its part, the private sector needs to ask itself whether it has not been lethargic, and perhaps even pessimistic, in its assessment of the trajectory of growth in South Africa and the rest of the sub-continent, thus falling short when major positive changes start to manifest.

The continuous growth over the last eight years points to an economy that is beginning to transcend apartheid's limitations. Critical elements of a new growth path have begun to emerge. Nevertheless, constraints and challenges remain. Concerns have been raised as to whether the present trajectory of growth will achieve the goal of 6% growth, and a 50% reduction of unemployment and poverty.

Therefore, decisive and bold action is need to remove the most important constraints on faster economic growth. South Africa's continued prosperity will depend on a diversification of its industrial base, which is the main objective of the industrial strategy.

Black economic empowerment should be linked directly to the expansion and diversification of our economic base. In ensuring that ownership and control of capital is de-racialised, it is also necessary to broaden the base of such ownership.

To overcome the spatial distortions of apartheid, future settlement and economic development opportunities should take place as close as possible to main growth centres.

Defeat poverty and unemployment

The campaign against poverty is in the first instance a campaign to create employment. While new jobs are being created, the problem of the absorption of unskilled labour remains. The key challenge is to address the mismatch between the supply of largely unskilled and semi-skilled labour and the demand for skilled labour that the economy is now generating.

The vast majority of the unemployed are black youth and women, many of whom have never held full time employment and who lack the skills to gain entry into fast-growing sectors of the economy. Direct interventions are need to absorb unskilled and semi-skilled workers, including through public works programmes, the promotion of labour intensive technologies, active labour market policies and intensive programmes of skills transfer.

There is an objective trade-off between the quantity and quality of employment that is created. While remaining committed to the protection of worker rights and fair labour practices, interventions in the economy should not undermine the potential of key sectors to generate employment.

Sharing the benefits of growth is as important as achieving growth. The most significant vehicle for sharing growth would be to eliminate the second economy. Our intervention in the second economy must benefit the third of our people, mostly young, who are trapped in poverty and who need to be assisted to be economically sustainably self-reliant.

In the long run, our most effective weapon in the campaign against poverty and unemployment is education. Significant progress has been made in improving the skills profile of our people. The most immediate skills-related challenge is the demand for critical technical skills.

Responding to the immediate demands, and building an appropriate skills profile over the longer term, requires a common programme of action between business, unions, academic and training institutions, and government.

The resolution on the economy that emerges from the 52nd National Conference in December should provide enduring and useful guidance for the ANC, in particular for cadres deployed in government to implement policy and develop tactical responses to a dynamic and constantly evolving economic situation. By building a broad consensus on economic strategy we can confront the challenges we face with confidence, as a united movement with a clear vision of the road ahead.

** This is the first in a series of articles summarising the main points covered in the policy discussion documents distributed as part of preparations for the ANC 52nd National Conference.

More Information:

• ANC Policy Discussion Documents, March 2007

Letter from Sinn Fein President

A defining moment in Irish history

Editor's Note: Last week, the leadership of Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) concluded an agreement on the restoration of power sharing institutions in Northern Island. Following this agreement, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams wrote to the ANC expressing gratitude for South African support for the Irish Peace process. We publish below the full text of the letter.

A chara,

Beatha agus slainte. The agreement between Sinn Fein and the DUP on 26 March to restore the political institutions of the Good Friday Agreement on 8 May is truly one of those defining moments which change history.

The Irish peace process has come a long way over the last 15 years. Significant progress has been made and initiatives and developments have occurred which many would have thought impossible.

The Sinn Fein agreement with Ian Paisley and his colleagues is the most potent example of that.

A new and unprecedented opportunity for progress now exists in Ireland. People are more hopeful now than at any time since the Good Friday Agreement.

To all of who played a role, however large or small, I want to say a very sincere thank you.

Former President Nelson Mandela, current President Thabo Mbeki, Minister Ronnie Kasrils, Cyril Ramaphosa and Robert Mc Bride all made indispensable contributions without which we would not be where we are today. They deserve special thanks.

Of course, there is still a long way to go and much hard work has to be done but I believe it is right and proper that we take this time to thank all those far sighted people, like yourselves, who helped create this opportunity and who stayed with this process even in times of deepest crisis and despondency. Tá mé fíor buíoch daoibh.

Please accept my most heartfelt appreciation for all your efforts. And be assured of our continued determination to keep pushing this process forward to the day when we achieve Irish freedom and a free united Ireland.

Adh mhor oraibh
Gerry Adams MP, Sinn Fein President.

More Information:

• Sinn Fein website
• ANC Today Vol 7 No 4, 'Best wishes to the Irish people'

NOTICE AND APOLOGY FROM THE EDITOR

In ANC TODAY Vol 7 No 11, we undertook to publish in this edition a belated review of the important book by Melissa Steyn, "Whiteness Just Isn't What It Used To Be: White Identity in a Changing South Africa". However, we had failed to take into account the fact that this current edition would be published on Good Friday, the beginning of the Easter holidays, when many of our readers would take a break, during which some would be involved in important activities that involve various practices of the Christian faith. Regrettably, we therefore decided that it would be best to publish the review in our next edition. We apologise to our readers for this delay. The review will appear in our Vol 7 No 14.

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