German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said that there are two kinds of history: the history of politics, and the history of literature and art.
What we call history is a tale of heroes or villains in the dramatic lives of past societies. Or it is the scripted record of the works of great minds and the masterpieces of exceptionally-gifted artists who are long dead.
If you are not involved actively in politics, or if you are producing neither serious literature nor outstanding works of art, you will die and disappear like someone who was never born. Nothing will mark your past existence.
Not every piece of literature or artefact enters the hallowed realm of history. It is only works that contain ground-breaking scientific discoveries, or those preserving timeless universal truths about mankind, that belong to the category of the historic.
The savants of our day will attest to the paucity of timeless products of the mind in the field of the written word, and those with taste will testify to the scarcity of immortal artefacts.
All our pseudo-thinkers and all our pretentious artists will not escape the fate that awaits non-historic souls - the untraceable existence of ceased existence.
In the life of nations, it is major political events - such as wars or great social transformations - that lodge themselves permanently in the unbroken consciousness of mankind as an immortal (not eternal) continuum. Political events or trends that are historically significant spring from the agency of unique human beings who are driven by an indomitable will.
Such individuals are rare, and the seismic events they orchestrate visit mankind once in eons. Cecil Rhodes, Jan Smuts, Mahatma Ghandi and Nelson Mandela are examples of modern historic personages destined by providence to tread our land.
As the human face expresses the state of the soul, historic figures personify the spirit of their age. Rhodes embodied the boundlessness of imperialist ambition. Smuts showcased the triumph of the mind over nationalistic urges. Ghandi demonstrated that nonviolence is more powerful than violence. And Mandela proved that nothing can stop a resolute will.
What complicates the extraction of meaning from history's pregnant episodes is either the messiness of the heaps of information accumulating from the flux of human affairs, or the inability of the living to see beyond their daily struggles. It is such inability that explains why most societies fail to recognise the workings of a historic moment, the manifestation of momentous political changes that constitute the stuff of history.
This is precisely what South Africa is going through right now. We are busy crossing a truly historic bridge. It is the end of an era. It is the death of liberation politics and the birth of something genuinely novel.
The moral disorder that has been devouring the soul of the ANC over the past decade or so is like the wind that gusts mightily in spring to announce the end of winter and the coming of summer.
Many in the ANC are gripped by fear. Their stomachs have been rendered unstable by the real expectation of loss of power in 2019.
Those in charge of state institutions can sense that their looting spree is fast nearing the end. The brazenness and lunacy of their conduct is typical of he who makes hay while the sun shines, mindful that the approaching storm is sure to disrupt a very nice party.
Such is our historic moment. We have reached the end of the ANC, not merely as we have known it, but more importantly as a party. Like a dying horse, the kicking is not a sign of life; it is the power that a departing soul gives to the leg.
No one can tell what the clenched fists of a new-born baby will reveal in later life. It is generally expected that something unique will be added to human affairs by the arrival of a new life - good or bad.
That exactly is where South Africa is today. No one knows what kind of new politics will emerge out of the carcass of liberation politics. Opposition parties seem to be as puzzled as ordinary voters are.
There is no sign of serious preparation by opposition parties to govern South Africa after 2019. With the ANC currently squirming on its deathbed, one would expect the kind of franticness that characterised the transition days when the ANC readied itself to inherit the reigns from the dying National Party.
Could it be that South Africans cannot see it when history takes a turn? Behold, your country is changing!
Behold South Africa, the country is changing
German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said that there are two kinds of history: the history of politics, and the history of literature and art.
What we call history is a tale of heroes or villains in the dramatic lives of past societies. Or it is the scripted record of the works of great minds and the masterpieces of exceptionally-gifted artists who are long dead.
If you are not involved actively in politics, or if you are producing neither serious literature nor outstanding works of art, you will die and disappear like someone who was never born. Nothing will mark your past existence.
Not every piece of literature or artefact enters the hallowed realm of history. It is only works that contain ground-breaking scientific discoveries, or those preserving timeless universal truths about mankind, that belong to the category of the historic.
The savants of our day will attest to the paucity of timeless products of the mind in the field of the written word, and those with taste will testify to the scarcity of immortal artefacts.
All our pseudo-thinkers and all our pretentious artists will not escape the fate that awaits non-historic souls - the untraceable existence of ceased existence.
In the life of nations, it is major political events - such as wars or great social transformations - that lodge themselves permanently in the unbroken consciousness of mankind as an immortal (not eternal) continuum. Political events or trends that are historically significant spring from the agency of unique human beings who are driven by an indomitable will.
Such individuals are rare, and the seismic events they orchestrate visit mankind once in eons. Cecil Rhodes, Jan Smuts, Mahatma Ghandi and Nelson Mandela are examples of modern historic personages destined by providence to tread our land.
As the human face expresses the state of the soul, historic figures personify the spirit of their age. Rhodes embodied the boundlessness of imperialist ambition. Smuts showcased the triumph of the mind over nationalistic urges. Ghandi demonstrated that nonviolence is more powerful than violence. And Mandela proved that nothing can stop a resolute will.
What complicates the extraction of meaning from history's pregnant episodes is either the messiness of the heaps of information accumulating from the flux of human affairs, or the inability of the living to see beyond their daily struggles. It is such inability that explains why most societies fail to recognise the workings of a historic moment, the manifestation of momentous political changes that constitute the stuff of history.
This is precisely what South Africa is going through right now. We are busy crossing a truly historic bridge. It is the end of an era. It is the death of liberation politics and the birth of something genuinely novel.
The moral disorder that has been devouring the soul of the ANC over the past decade or so is like the wind that gusts mightily in spring to announce the end of winter and the coming of summer.
Many in the ANC are gripped by fear. Their stomachs have been rendered unstable by the real expectation of loss of power in 2019.
Those in charge of state institutions can sense that their looting spree is fast nearing the end. The brazenness and lunacy of their conduct is typical of he who makes hay while the sun shines, mindful that the approaching storm is sure to disrupt a very nice party.
Such is our historic moment. We have reached the end of the ANC, not merely as we have known it, but more importantly as a party. Like a dying horse, the kicking is not a sign of life; it is the power that a departing soul gives to the leg.
No one can tell what the clenched fists of a new-born baby will reveal in later life. It is generally expected that something unique will be added to human affairs by the arrival of a new life - good or bad.
That exactly is where South Africa is today. No one knows what kind of new politics will emerge out of the carcass of liberation politics. Opposition parties seem to be as puzzled as ordinary voters are.
There is no sign of serious preparation by opposition parties to govern South Africa after 2019. With the ANC currently squirming on its deathbed, one would expect the kind of franticness that characterised the transition days when the ANC readied itself to inherit the reigns from the dying National Party.
Could it be that South Africans cannot see it when history takes a turn? Behold, your country is changing!
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