By Bruce Blaine
As with many schools around the country, Bridge House will embark on the journey of electing its new student leaders for 2025 in the coming week. Bridge House, as much as possible, tries to emulate the democratic process as much as possible. There are very few schools in the world that give the students 100% of the vote in electing the leaders that will represent them, but Bridge House stands out as one of them.
In so many ways, our democracy is maturing, but it would be remiss of us not to acknowledge the declining confidence in the democracy that so many spent their lives fighting for – with many even losing their lives as we cast our minds back to but one event in June of 1976. The assumption for this decline is often attributed to key stakeholders within that democracy not serving their electorate, and, therefore, undermining the democratic process that elected them. However, as individuals, we cannot neglect our own responsibility – as the electorate, custodians of this democracy, it is up to us to hold those elected into office accountable.
The fact that only 58.61% of registered voters cast a ballot in May (News24) is concerning, but even more so is that less than 40% of eligible South African voters bothered to do so (statists.com). While this is disconcerting, one of the lowest voter turnouts according to age category was in voters under the age of 25. I would like to argue that this election has a great impact on this age group as it will play a pivotal role in determining their future. This begs the question – where are we going wrong? For people not to vote in a democratic election, where voting is a choice, apathy clearly exists. I will not be cautious in stating that apathy is a slow poison that unravels a basket of water, thread by thread until it is left bare and structureless and all the water is lost. This loss occurs because we did not care to tend to it – as a collective.
A culture can be defined as something which is common among us, that which unifies us. Our democracy should do exactly this. In order for a culture to exist, as well as for a democracy, we need participation. Ballots are the most optimistic reflection of democratic confidence or participation. One should probably consider a more realistic account of one’s participation, and that could be the question, “When was the last time you attended your local council meeting?” or better yet, “Have you ever attended a council meeting?”. These questions beg our answers by a call to action. We have been privy to many keyboard warriors, some whom we know well too, lambasting our politicians and municipalities, yet have not taken any steps themselves, to constructively use the avenues provided by our democratic rights. Our rights, constitutional and those which are law, are also empowering us as civilians to be a part of an active call to participation.
It is clear that our political views are mostly inherited in South Africa. Our families and communities play a large part in us inheriting particular views as we begin to build our identities as young people. Through this, political allegiances are formed. It is no surprise that these allegiances are largely based on race due to the divisions embedded into South African society by the Apartheid regime. Critical issues arise, and this has
been a stark case in South Africa, when the electorate relies heavily on one political party to serve their communities during which time, that political party becomes nonchalant and inactive in providing services as they know that the electorate will support them at the polls for fear of voting in the ‘other’ party. The electorate would rather continue voting for a party that no longer serves them, or not vote at all, than vote for a party that is represented by a race different to themselves. Whilst understandable to some degree, this is not the answer to our problems. We need to unlearn, learn and relearn.
I see one critical role player and two olive branches that can help us renegotiate these norms. The role player, front and centre, is education. Our school systems need to intercept these inherited associations by educating our youth about their rights and responsibilities in the democratic processes. The first olive branch is that we must work to deracialise our political parties. We need teachers that are impartial in allowing students to form their own views based on the values of political parties and their leaders, rather than the affiliations which they have inherited from their own upbringing. Apathetic and pessimistic views of a democratic process make it ineffective, and it is therefore imperative that our educators themselves see value in and are active participants of our democracy. The second olive branch is the need for raising the profile of language education. We need to produce leaders that are multilingual. Our schools need to place greater emphasis on providing students with this opportunity in conjunction with their communities.It is commonplace for South Africans to use the ‘language barrier’ as an excuse for their lack of leadership of people whose native
tongue they do not speak. This is most common of native Afrikaans and English speakers and their lack of willingness to learn an Nguni Language. By producing multilingual leaders, we foster leadership that has cultural understanding, beyond that of merely communicating for the sake of passing on a message. It becomes deeper than that, it carries with it an empathy and a desire to genuinely connect with a person. Despite the fact that I may not have lived your reality, you can help me to understand it because I can communicate with you in your native tongue. In-so-doing I place value on what may form a large part of your identity, and when people feel valued they are more inclined to be vulnerable. There will be a platform to address real issues that have hamstrung democracy. In order for this to happen, though, we need a youth that has the vocabulary, self-confidence and knowledge (of their democracy) to engage one another
on these critical issues.
In 2022, under the Bhabhathane non-profit organisation that represented the schools in the Franschhoek Valley, we produced a combined production called uSimphiwe. A complement of 8 schools represented by more than 65 students and 10 teachers came together to create a piece of work that would unsettle anyone that had the privilege of attending it. The script was written in English, isiXhosa and Afrikaans. It delved into the realities of our youth, challenging stereotypes through humour and the realities faced by all South Africans. We cast students as characters that did not stereotypically represent them as we aimed to use theatre to challenge the norms of South African society. This production gave students and teachers the opportunity to collaborate with one another, with no pre-existing barriers. We engaged as professionals and, likewise, the cast was treated the same way. We used the opportunity to upskill students that were interested in other aspects of production such as backstage, sound and lighting. This took place in a community with one of the greatest gene- coefficients in the world. It is possible. We just need to be intentional about creating these meaningful opportunities. A study of uSimphiwe has been conducted by Dr Judy Blaine and will hopefully be available for publication in the near future.
As a man in a mixed-race relationship with (soon to be) two mixed-race children, I do not want my children to align themselves with anything based on their racial profile. I imagine they may be very confused as they will not ‘fit the box’. I desire for my children to align themselves with that which represents the values which have been ingrained in them from a young age, and hopefully throughout their time at school too. I want my children to learn the languages of others before they expect that person to learn theirs. I want my children to love a person before they criticize a person. If they can do these things at a young age, then they can engage with others meaningfully without prejudice.
South Africa, it is our time. We need to take responsibility for our own democracy. We are not only carving out a reality for ourselves but also for future generations of South Africans, and one day they will turn around and ask us “What did you do to make our country a better place?”. And rightly so. Let us give our future generations a country that has matured in its approach to democracy by producing active and engaging citizens. Let schools be the nurseries and society be the orchards. May the soils be fertile and
the harvest fruitful.