SOUTH Africa is led by a clique of tribal leaders who are worse than the apartheid government which promoted tribalism through its Bantustan policy, Professor Barney Pityana said.
Pityana was a leader of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) and is the former vice-chancellor of Unisa.
"Our major undoing is tribalism . this country has become more tribal than under apartheid.
"It is now under the leadership of tribal clique," Pityana said.
Speaking at Unisa yesterday during the commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the death of BCM leader Stephen Bantu Biko, Pityana said one of the Black Consciousness philosophy's major contributions to the country was its fight against ethnicity and tribalism.
Black Consciousness transcended the ethnic and tribal tendencies that apartheid sought to perpetuate, Pityana said.
He also decried the fact that 18 years after democracy, the "summary issue in this country is clearly inequality".
He said after 18 years of democracy it was not correct to continue blaming apartheid for the inequalities. "These inequalities persist because we have made half-hearted policy choices."
Pityana said this country could not afford to wait until 2030 to improve the lives of the poor majority.
"If I was a politician, I would say to the current leaders: if you cannot deliver then move aside and let those with the ability to deliver take over."
Also speaking at the commemoration was Steve Biko Foundation board member Professor Ben Khoapa, who said it was a shame that "35 years after the death of Bantu Biko we are still talking about the massacre that happened at Marikana, and we are now debating about how we can compensate them".
"After the Sharpeville massacre, we never thought we will be burying so many people. More so when they were simply asking for more money.
"This is not how Biko would have liked things to be."
Khoapa said the country must use Marikana to build a new foundation for a more humane society.
Unisa vice-chancellor Mandla Makhanya said Biko's memory could be honoured if the country develops a model of leadership that is "visionary, sacrificial, nurturing and transformative" like he was.
Peter Cyril Jones, one of Biko's confidants and founder member of the Black Community Programme (an organisation that ran self-help projects in black communities), said Biko would be heartbroken that the vision the BCM had for South Africa seemed less attainable.
"This is a tragedy, and we need a remedy," said Jones.
- In the article "SA has failed Biko" yesterday, we wrote that Steve Biko was behind the ideology of the Freedom Charter, when in fact the charter was the brainchild of the ANC and its allies, the SA Indian Congress, the SA Congress of Democrats and the Coloured People's Congress.
We apologise for the error.
SA under leadership of tribal clique - Pityana
SOUTH Africa is led by a clique of tribal leaders who are worse than the apartheid government which promoted tribalism through its Bantustan policy, Professor Barney Pityana said.
Pityana was a leader of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) and is the former vice-chancellor of Unisa.
"Our major undoing is tribalism . this country has become more tribal than under apartheid.
"It is now under the leadership of tribal clique," Pityana said.
Speaking at Unisa yesterday during the commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the death of BCM leader Stephen Bantu Biko, Pityana said one of the Black Consciousness philosophy's major contributions to the country was its fight against ethnicity and tribalism.
Black Consciousness transcended the ethnic and tribal tendencies that apartheid sought to perpetuate, Pityana said.
He also decried the fact that 18 years after democracy, the "summary issue in this country is clearly inequality".
He said after 18 years of democracy it was not correct to continue blaming apartheid for the inequalities. "These inequalities persist because we have made half-hearted policy choices."
Pityana said this country could not afford to wait until 2030 to improve the lives of the poor majority.
"If I was a politician, I would say to the current leaders: if you cannot deliver then move aside and let those with the ability to deliver take over."
Also speaking at the commemoration was Steve Biko Foundation board member Professor Ben Khoapa, who said it was a shame that "35 years after the death of Bantu Biko we are still talking about the massacre that happened at Marikana, and we are now debating about how we can compensate them".
"After the Sharpeville massacre, we never thought we will be burying so many people. More so when they were simply asking for more money.
"This is not how Biko would have liked things to be."
Khoapa said the country must use Marikana to build a new foundation for a more humane society.
Unisa vice-chancellor Mandla Makhanya said Biko's memory could be honoured if the country develops a model of leadership that is "visionary, sacrificial, nurturing and transformative" like he was.
Peter Cyril Jones, one of Biko's confidants and founder member of the Black Community Programme (an organisation that ran self-help projects in black communities), said Biko would be heartbroken that the vision the BCM had for South Africa seemed less attainable.
"This is a tragedy, and we need a remedy," said Jones.
We apologise for the error.
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