OPINION | South Africa’s parallel lives: The danger of racial loyalties over reason, race trumps merit and graft thrives

SA today stands at a dangerous crossroads – not because we lack intelligence, resources or the will to change, but because we continue to live in parallel realities defined more by racial loyalty than shared truth.

We are a nation where race still trumps merit and where allegiance to identity often overrides our commitment to justice, facts or progress. This is not merely a relic of our painful history – it is a lived reality. We see it in our political discourse, our legal battles, our hiring decisions and our public debates. Every issue is filtered through race first, truth second.

We have become comfortable living side by side, but not truly together. What we’re witnessing is not diversity – it is fragmentation. We’re speaking but not hearing. Debating, but not understanding. Engaging, but only to defend “our own” side. And when the facts challenge our chosen narrative, we reject them in favour of emotional loyalty.

One of the clearest reflections of this phenomenon is visible on social media, especially on X, where conversations are shaped not by the substance of the argument but by the race of the speaker.

Time and again, we witness individuals being supported or vilified based not on the merit of their ideas but on identity politics. The recent case involving AfriForum's claims that Afrikaans-speaking farmers are being systematically targeted for mass murder is a textbook example.

Rather than sober engagement with the facts, including the broader context of violent crime affecting all communities, the platform descended into racial posturing, with users either defending AfriForum or dismissing the issue entirely based on who raised it, not what was said. In the process, nuance is lost, and national dialogue becomes a battleground of echo chambers.

This kind of divided living has consequences. It means our institutions are constantly questioned not based on integrity or delivery, but on who is leading them. It means a corrupt leader can still be a hero, as long as they look like us or fight “our” battle. It means young people are taught to pick a side, not a principle.

And while we argue based on our race, our country stagnates. Service delivery collapses. Talent is overlooked. Corruption thrives. And worst of all, the dream of a united SA quietly dies a little more each day. Parallel existences mean some live in worlds of abundance while others navigate daily scarcity.

But even beyond material inequality, we suffer from a dangerous moral and social fragmentation. We debate in silos, empathise selectively and defend the indefensible when it suits our side. This is not how a nation heals.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. We must re-centre merit. We must allow facts, however inconvenient, to shape our opinions. And we must start building bridges instead of reinforcing echo chambers. The alternative is not just political instability or economic decline – it’s the slow erosion of national identity itself.

We need courage. The courage to call out wrongs, even when they come from those who look like us. The courage to sit at the same table and listen. The courage to imagine an SA where unity is not just a line in a constitution but a lived reality.

Merit must matter again. The truth must matter again. And above all, the common cause must matter more than the comfort of our camps. Until we learn to come together – not in slogans or once-off reconciliations, but in real, sustained and sometimes uncomfortable solidarity – we will all perish. Not at once, but slowly, painfully and collectively.

We owe it to ourselves and future generations to break down the walls of racial suspicion and ideological rigidity. Our survival as a nation depends not on who we were, but on what we are willing to become – together.

Until we commit to a common cause – to shared values over racial preservation – we will remain trapped in our separate corners, arguing as the house burns. The question is: are we brave enough to choose differently?

• Netshirembe is a social commentator with a keen interest in politics