FOUR decades ago a young activist wrote several essays analysing the political situation in South Africa.
He wrote about the essence of apartheid, its effects on the oppressed black masses and possible solutions that could see black people being emancipated.
This activist was none other than Steve Bantu Biko, who came to be known as the father of the Black Consciousness Movement in SA.
He died in 1977 at the hands of the apartheid security forces at the tender age of 30.
In one of his essays Biko argued that Black Consciousness was a tool for black emancipation. Through Black Consciousness, black people were embarking on an emancipatory programme that would "completely transform the system (of apartheid) and turn it into an egalitarian society where race, creed or class will not become an issue".
Biko then saw a future South Africa where all people would have attained "their envisaged self which is a free self".
Even then Biko warned about the danger of changing what was described by others as "apartheid capitalism" into "nonracial capitalism".
He described this as a form of integration "in which black will compete with black, using each other as rungs up a step ladder leading them to white values. It is an integration in which the poor will grow poorer and the rich richer - in a country where the poor have always been black".
As we commemorate the 41st anniversary of the death of this African intellectual giant and activist, it is important to take stock of where we are today in post-apartheid South Africa.
One thing is sure: South Africa remains a capitalist society, striving towards creating a nonracial economic system where all citizens will have an opportunity to become "the free self" Biko spoke about.
One can also say with certainty that a situation does exist where black people are competing against one another, and even use one another as rungs up the step ladder into the world of material wealth. This could most probably be what Biko then described as "white values".
The outcry now is that those who have access to political power are using it to achieve material wealth. They also use their positions to get rid of their competitors in the quest for wealth. The competition now is for political office that is seen as a ticket to the desired world of material wealth.
Another certainty is that the poor are becoming poorer, while the rich are getting richer. And the majority of the poor remain black.
A recent General Housing Survey by Statistics SA has shown that 95,3percent of the people living in informal settlements are black, with only 4,7percent being "other" races - that is Indian, coloureds and whites.
A report released by University of Cape Town economics professor Harron Bhorat last September showed that of all the countries in the world South Africa has the widest gap between the rich and the poor.
According to Bhorat, South Africa's Gini coefficient index - which shows the level of income inequality - stood at 0,679. The coefficient varies between 0 and 1. The closer to the latter the more unequal a society is.
All these have become known truths. The question is how do we deal with them so that we can achieve the ideal of an egalitarian society that Biko dreamt of.
We do have black economic empowerment policies in place. The government also has anti-poverty strategies to deal with the dire situation that the majority of black people continue to face in the new South Africa.
But the signs are that all these measures amount to swimming against a very strong tide, shown by instances like the study by Bhorat and public admission by some people in informal settlements that they survive by stealing water and electricity because they do not have access to basic services.
Maybe we should start by revisiting Biko's teachings when he said total emancipation could not be attained by reforming the system but "by completely transforming it into what all South Africans want and need".
Part of that transformation could mean looking at whether we have not made the mistake of reforming "apartheid capitalism" and accepting the major points around which it revolved.
In doing so we might also have forgotten Biko's warning that "tradition has it that whenever a group of people have tasted the lovely fruits of wealth, security and privilege, it begins to believe and accept it is normal that it alone is entitled to privilege".
The rich, the poor and the growing gap
FOUR decades ago a young activist wrote several essays analysing the political situation in South Africa.
He wrote about the essence of apartheid, its effects on the oppressed black masses and possible solutions that could see black people being emancipated.
This activist was none other than Steve Bantu Biko, who came to be known as the father of the Black Consciousness Movement in SA.
He died in 1977 at the hands of the apartheid security forces at the tender age of 30.
In one of his essays Biko argued that Black Consciousness was a tool for black emancipation. Through Black Consciousness, black people were embarking on an emancipatory programme that would "completely transform the system (of apartheid) and turn it into an egalitarian society where race, creed or class will not become an issue".
Biko then saw a future South Africa where all people would have attained "their envisaged self which is a free self".
Even then Biko warned about the danger of changing what was described by others as "apartheid capitalism" into "nonracial capitalism".
He described this as a form of integration "in which black will compete with black, using each other as rungs up a step ladder leading them to white values. It is an integration in which the poor will grow poorer and the rich richer - in a country where the poor have always been black".
As we commemorate the 41st anniversary of the death of this African intellectual giant and activist, it is important to take stock of where we are today in post-apartheid South Africa.
One thing is sure: South Africa remains a capitalist society, striving towards creating a nonracial economic system where all citizens will have an opportunity to become "the free self" Biko spoke about.
One can also say with certainty that a situation does exist where black people are competing against one another, and even use one another as rungs up the step ladder into the world of material wealth. This could most probably be what Biko then described as "white values".
The outcry now is that those who have access to political power are using it to achieve material wealth. They also use their positions to get rid of their competitors in the quest for wealth. The competition now is for political office that is seen as a ticket to the desired world of material wealth.
Another certainty is that the poor are becoming poorer, while the rich are getting richer. And the majority of the poor remain black.
A recent General Housing Survey by Statistics SA has shown that 95,3percent of the people living in informal settlements are black, with only 4,7percent being "other" races - that is Indian, coloureds and whites.
A report released by University of Cape Town economics professor Harron Bhorat last September showed that of all the countries in the world South Africa has the widest gap between the rich and the poor.
According to Bhorat, South Africa's Gini coefficient index - which shows the level of income inequality - stood at 0,679. The coefficient varies between 0 and 1. The closer to the latter the more unequal a society is.
All these have become known truths. The question is how do we deal with them so that we can achieve the ideal of an egalitarian society that Biko dreamt of.
We do have black economic empowerment policies in place. The government also has anti-poverty strategies to deal with the dire situation that the majority of black people continue to face in the new South Africa.
But the signs are that all these measures amount to swimming against a very strong tide, shown by instances like the study by Bhorat and public admission by some people in informal settlements that they survive by stealing water and electricity because they do not have access to basic services.
Maybe we should start by revisiting Biko's teachings when he said total emancipation could not be attained by reforming the system but "by completely transforming it into what all South Africans want and need".
Part of that transformation could mean looking at whether we have not made the mistake of reforming "apartheid capitalism" and accepting the major points around which it revolved.
In doing so we might also have forgotten Biko's warning that "tradition has it that whenever a group of people have tasted the lovely fruits of wealth, security and privilege, it begins to believe and accept it is normal that it alone is entitled to privilege".
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