A song by Thandiswa Mazwai ‘’Ngimkhonzile’’ says ‘’sathenjiswa izulu nomhlaba, izibhedlele,ngenene aba bantu abananyaniso, ungabona impilo abayiphilayo, njengoba wena ubavotela kangaka bakusiza ngantoni bakwenzela ni? Uyabona manje ndifuna impela ukuthi inkululeko ngenene yintoni, ngoba kudala sasisithi Amandla ngawethu!!, kudala sisthi ilizwe lelethu’’.
Thandiswa questions the slogan “Amandla ngawethu.” we have inherited this saying from our ancestors who were fighting to regain their country and power over their country and everything in it. Looking into today’s free or democratic country, do we have power over our country? On paper, yes, we do, but there are things that a black person cannot access, even in a democratic country. Some of those things are restricted through policies and legislation, just a cover-up for us not to question things. We are restricted from accessing some things by ridiculous policies that favor certain people.
Thousands of political parties in one country are contesting to rule the country; what is wrong with current leaders? If everything was going well, we could have one political party with various leaders wanting to rule, not numerous political parties wanting to dethrone the other. What do they want to change that they cannot if they were part of the ruling party? Their Manifestos always talk about liberating this country, liberating from what when we are free already. Something is wrong with this ‘’Amandla ngawethu’’ and I want to assume that we do not have any power.
With so much division, perhaps we were at least united when we were fighting an apartheid system because then everyone had the same goal: to remove the apartheid government and fight to say '’Amandla ngawethu ‘’ boldly. How does a country allow political parties formed by non-South Africans to contest in elections? For instance, we have political parties of foreign nationals who want to rule this country. Have we become a banana republic where everyone and anyone can lead us? If we have the power, why don't we have policies that we coin in favor of our people and restrict others? Because, by the look of things, we only have policies that are in favor of other races than us.
The saying Amandla ngawethu, power to us, was used by protestors during liberation time, claiming back their land. Post-apartheid, the saying Amandla ngawethu persists. Are we still saying Amandla ngawethu for the same reasons, or have we now attached a different meaning to the phrase? I want to believe we are saying this slogan for a reason we might not know. The persistence of this phrase could mean the persistence of the colonial system, which could mean we still want the power back, though we say we have it.
The slogan is unrealistic because we do not own land, and our economy is in the hands of the elites, meaning the slogan would make sense if our dear political leaders would agree that South Africa is not free; we are still fighting for power and complete control of our country. Also, the vast number of political parties would make sense because we cannot have many political parties wanting to dethrone ANC in a democratic country.
Perhaps we should go back to the drawing board, sigh, and ask ourselves this question: why are we fighting amongst ourselves? When we should be working together to liberate South Africa because even the opposing political parties would do the same things as the ruling party because they do not know exactly what they want to change in South Africa; well, at least they have a manifesto, but is it addressing the elephant in the room or they are just fighting the ''Person" who is not a good leader for them.
One day we will wake up and be chased out of our country while we are singing ‘’Amandla Ngawethu’’; the enemies are laughing at us, fighting amongst ourselves for power, the power we do not have; it seems as if in isiXhosa ‘’Sikhangela isitya emnyameni”, we have not found the real problem and even those who do, do not have the power to solve it. There is a new strategy for political parties to form a coalition, but that might not work because everyone wants to be in charge and rule, even when they do not have the capacity to lead. It is a mess.
We need one political party that is not rooted in political ideologies but looks deeper into what South Africa needs and how its problems can be resolved. A political party guided by this country's spiritual guides and led through Afrocentric leadership would have leaders who are true to themselves.
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