WHAT IS GOING TO DEFINE THE FUTURE OF SA?
THERE is no definitive truth about any given situation – more than one truth can exist simultaneously without invalidating the other.
For example: 1. Transformation is needed in South Africa, but the methodology is flawed; 2. #ShutdownSA is not about former president Jacob Zuma; and 3. #ShutdownSA is a result of operant conditioning of the mindsets of South Africans by the government.
It is because several things exist on a spectrum that I find myself on the fence about what has turned into “a looting spree”. Normally, I take a position and stand by it, so this has ignited some cognitive dissonance because while I stand by the cause of social justice and transformation, I disagree with the methodology employed and the target group it affects.
According to Baron and Branscombe (2012), “when people are in a large crowd, they tend to lose their individuality and instead act as others do”.
On the morning of July 13, a protester, interviewed after her arrest, said her friends were doing it, so she decided to join in because “when you are in a crowd, you can do just about anything”.
This relates to the second truth about #ShutdownSA protests – they are not about freeing Zuma but served as a trigger and passed through the threshold of “repressed emotions”.
It is Day 482 of #LockdownSA. Youth unemployment stands at 46.3%, there are an estimated 23 suicides a day, and of reported rape cases, only 14% go to trial and there are convictions in only about 7% of the cases.
The blatant disregard for the law, on the other hand, evident in #ShutdownSA protests, is fuelled by a repression of the emotions tied to the statistics above, in addition to the loss of leadership in the country regarding Covid-19 lockdown regulations and the lack of aid exacerbated by corruption.
If we take the hypothesis that there is a loss of accountability in a crowd, that a sense of anonymity is realised, and that this encourages unrestrained or antisocial actions, then the third truth about the “purge” is that South Africans have conformed to the norms modelled by the large crowd mentioned above. The government stands accused by citizens of looting Covid-19 funds and other things which have gone unpunished.
This is called operant conditioning and it was coined by BF Skinner, an American psychologist.
The first truth is that although the cause is (to a certain extent) genuine and/or justified, it is tainted by the chosen methodology to provoke and inspire change – that is hooliganism under the guise of “revolutionism”.
For instance, if poverty and unemployment is one of the reasons for #ShutdownSA, desecrating blackowned establishments works against the intended goals and objectives.
South African history has come to prove the Baron and Branscombe (2012) hypothesis that if a minority argues for a position that is consistent with social trends (for example mass demonstrations and violent protest action have influenced positive social change), its chances of influencing the majority are greater than if it argues for a position out of step with such trends.
Another part of this truth can be that some of the members of the belief system/group are not interested in social change, they just want to see the country in flames and the norms of the belief system/group serves their interests.
Many truths can exist about the current affairs with one not necessarily invalidating the other. However, what is going to define the future of South Africa is finding where the truths meet on the spectrum – thinking in ways that are more encompassing and systematic. Otherwise, even if the SANDF restores calm, we will always await the next trigger.
In Solomon Mahlangu’s last words: “All we want is freedom. Freedom for children to learn; freedom for men to work; freedom for mothers to love; for a nation to grow… I am just one of many; a foot-soldier. There will be many, many more to follow.”