Komani author, researcher and transformative intellectual, Professor Menzi Minisie Duka says the South African (SA) constitution has generated a spirit of individualism by removing the ideological implications of Ubuntu (humanity) prior to its adoption.
Duka was given an award for the preservation and promotion of indigenous knowledge systems at the seventh annual Eastern Cape Provincial Arts and Culture Awards last Friday.
Duka received awarded his award in the heritage and languages category at the Department of Sports, recreation, arts and Culture’s (Dsrac) ceremony at the ICC in East London.
“The award inspires me to go forward with literature and with research in indigenous systems,” he said.
Duka, who also holds a PhD in literature, said he was expecting to win in literature for which he was nominated, but the award went to Soga Mlandu.
Other award categories included visual arts, performing arts management and lifetime awards.
Duka identified Ubuntu as an African power force, a moving spirit.
“But SA adopted a Western culture into its constitution. European culture moves the spirit of society to individualism. The bill of rights of SA should have been rooted and driven by the spirit of humanity.”
The repercussions of adopting a Western culture into the system, according to Duka, have affected the cultural dynamics of how South Africans lived and demonstrated care towards each other.
Duka stated that the education system also placed more emphasis on pupils’ rights which were turning them into a ‘me, me, me’ generation.
“If ubuntu is integrated into the rights of South Africans, we will operate on the contexts of humanity.
“The focus will shift from my rights to our rights,” he said.
Equally so, he said the development system of the country is based on a European system which is taking South Africans in a different direction.
As a result, Duka said, the way of life is changing in rural areas compared to how his generation had been brought up.
“In our interim constitution, humanity was removed in the final days of the adoption of the constitution.”
Duka says, in the development system of the country, if a person does not understand English, they become excluded from the economy. He added that he was not implying that it was wrong for Africans to understand English but that all people should be part of the development system regardless of their education status.
“The development system does not cater for African languages.
People from rural areas are not developed because the requirement is for them to understand English.”
He said adopting a different culture into a country which has its own culture is not favourable for its development; instead, it brings a form of disruption to its values and norms.
“This affects the way children are brought up.
Duka said Amapharaphara (youth on drugs) who have become a menace to society are the product of the system which was affecting how households operate.
Famous isiXhosa writer and essayist Samuel Edward Krune Mqhayi said no nation will develop when development emanates outside itself but it must start inside before bringing in what is outside.
