Those who believe that intellectuals can play a meaningful role in taking this country to a stable and peaceful state must forget it.
Those fellows are not helpful. They behave like "di-skhothane" - a youth cult known for tearing R100 notes into pieces in public when their homes leak.
Speaking at the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals' annual conference, Joel Netshitenzhe said the Marikana massacre, #FeesMustFall protests, spy tapes, the torching of schools in Vuwani, the R246-million upgrade of President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead, and state capture would not have happened if black professionals, black intellectuals and organic intellectuals were as prolific as they were before 1994.
I beg to differ. We basically have fewer intellectuals in this country than we think we do. Post-1994 did not see the decline in intellectuals. What it did was differentiate between those who talked fearlessly about the apartheid regime and the real intellectuals.
I say so because not everybody who talked fearlessly against apartheid was an intellectual, as even a seven-year-old child could tell that the system was evil.
The dawn of democracy in 1994 found those intellectuals wanting in that they could no longer attack the democratic government.
Some were absorbed and captured in the government and state-owned parastatals. What then remained was the few who dared speak truth to power and risked the wrath of those in power. If you dared challenge or question some of the decisions, you would be branded counter-revolutionary or labelled as someone who is used by the Western media.
Moeletsi Mbeki is fond of saying that the ANC is surviving because of illiterate masses who cannot tell where the country is going.
He likened our situation with that of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe who, when addressing villagers, will wear traditional attire and spend hours bashing the previous government.
But the same cannot be done when addressing the middle class who will want to hear something of substance rather than history. Now, I agree with Netshitenzhe that this country needs to move towards being a reading nation that recognises the importance of education, and rewards excellence, before intellectuals can make an impact.
What do we say when university students - another source where we get intellectuals - burn property?
Our democracy has allowed us to be led by people who have had little association with education and we see nothing wrong with that kind of arrangement.
More than 20 years into democracy, some people still do not understand the importance of voting. More than 40% of the population is illiterate and as such does not understand how democracy works.
In that situation we cannot stand up with full confidence and say we understand democracy. And that frustrates the intellectuals to a point where they exist in their own world.
A careful reading of the Thabo Mbeki biography The Dream Deferred by Mark Gevisser reveals a sobering reality of the former president who was out of touch with the reality of South Africans simply because he took an intellectual approach to drive his presidency.
The truth is that if we have functional illiteracy in the country, then the impact of intellectuals on the masses will be minimal. Reading leads to knowledge, which leads to freedom of the mind, which leads to freedom of the body and soul.
I think Netshitenzhe will agree that we need to do away with the tendency of supporting debate because we are concerned with the political orientation, rather than with addressing the issue at hand.
The National Development Plan (NDP) appears to be the only way out that can have all citizens moving together with the same understanding. One of the plan's chapters talks about building safer communities. If the recommendations of the plan are implemented to the letter, and education is indeed made to be a precondition for development both in word and action, we won't need intellectuals to realise burning schools is barbaric and a disservice to the future of a black child.
Kobe is acting head of communication in the department of community safety in Limpopo province; he writes in his personal capacity.
Intellectuals not necessarily key to a better SA
Those who believe that intellectuals can play a meaningful role in taking this country to a stable and peaceful state must forget it.
Those fellows are not helpful. They behave like "di-skhothane" - a youth cult known for tearing R100 notes into pieces in public when their homes leak.
Speaking at the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals' annual conference, Joel Netshitenzhe said the Marikana massacre, #FeesMustFall protests, spy tapes, the torching of schools in Vuwani, the R246-million upgrade of President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead, and state capture would not have happened if black professionals, black intellectuals and organic intellectuals were as prolific as they were before 1994.
I beg to differ. We basically have fewer intellectuals in this country than we think we do. Post-1994 did not see the decline in intellectuals. What it did was differentiate between those who talked fearlessly about the apartheid regime and the real intellectuals.
I say so because not everybody who talked fearlessly against apartheid was an intellectual, as even a seven-year-old child could tell that the system was evil.
The dawn of democracy in 1994 found those intellectuals wanting in that they could no longer attack the democratic government.
Some were absorbed and captured in the government and state-owned parastatals. What then remained was the few who dared speak truth to power and risked the wrath of those in power. If you dared challenge or question some of the decisions, you would be branded counter-revolutionary or labelled as someone who is used by the Western media.
Moeletsi Mbeki is fond of saying that the ANC is surviving because of illiterate masses who cannot tell where the country is going.
He likened our situation with that of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe who, when addressing villagers, will wear traditional attire and spend hours bashing the previous government.
But the same cannot be done when addressing the middle class who will want to hear something of substance rather than history. Now, I agree with Netshitenzhe that this country needs to move towards being a reading nation that recognises the importance of education, and rewards excellence, before intellectuals can make an impact.
What do we say when university students - another source where we get intellectuals - burn property?
Our democracy has allowed us to be led by people who have had little association with education and we see nothing wrong with that kind of arrangement.
More than 20 years into democracy, some people still do not understand the importance of voting. More than 40% of the population is illiterate and as such does not understand how democracy works.
In that situation we cannot stand up with full confidence and say we understand democracy. And that frustrates the intellectuals to a point where they exist in their own world.
A careful reading of the Thabo Mbeki biography The Dream Deferred by Mark Gevisser reveals a sobering reality of the former president who was out of touch with the reality of South Africans simply because he took an intellectual approach to drive his presidency.
The truth is that if we have functional illiteracy in the country, then the impact of intellectuals on the masses will be minimal. Reading leads to knowledge, which leads to freedom of the mind, which leads to freedom of the body and soul.
I think Netshitenzhe will agree that we need to do away with the tendency of supporting debate because we are concerned with the political orientation, rather than with addressing the issue at hand.
The National Development Plan (NDP) appears to be the only way out that can have all citizens moving together with the same understanding. One of the plan's chapters talks about building safer communities. If the recommendations of the plan are implemented to the letter, and education is indeed made to be a precondition for development both in word and action, we won't need intellectuals to realise burning schools is barbaric and a disservice to the future of a black child.
Kobe is acting head of communication in the department of community safety in Limpopo province; he writes in his personal capacity.
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