Proverbs 29:18

In the King James Version of the Bible this reads as:

Where there is no vision, the people perish.

As I think back on how the South African political landscape seems to be changes in the last few years this quote seems to be eminently applicable.

I am not able to discern a mobilizing vision, from the ruling ANC, for South Africa.

I believe this absence of vision lies at the roots of the current troubles within the ANC – Much as numerous ANC spokespeople have assured us that there are no divisions within the ANC.

A unifying, energizing vision where everyone benefits is more likely to have people supporting each other, while the absence of such a vision leads people to isolate themselves, people entrench themselves in factions and positions and mistrust and fear grow.

A unifying vision allows people to align themselves and gives a common language and frame of reference.

Left to themselves things tend towards chaos. A unifying vision helps people to focus themselves on things that promote order while the lack of such a vision accelerates the slide into chaos.

Is it impossible for a country to have such a unifying vision? I think not. If we look into the past we can see that there have been people with powerful, energising visions for this country.

The struggle against apartheid was driven by a vision for a country that was free of the tyranny of racial prejudice. That vision drove many people to make immense sacrifices and caught the imagination of the world.

A different vision was the petrol that powered the transitional negotiations and caused South Africa to be viewed in awe at the peaceful transition from the apartheid regime into a democratic nation.

There was a time for each of those visions. There were people with courage to fight for those visions. Each time there was a critical mass of people who captivated and energized by those visions.

South Africa was catapulted into a new era because of those and other visions.

Their time has come and gone and the time for new visions is long overdue. Immense positive momentum and goodwill, both in South Africa and internationally, have been squandered. Many lives have been lost. Immense amounts of money have gone to waste.

And now South Africa is victim of the sick power squabbles of the ANC.

So what are some of the things that could make up this vision?

Here are some of my candidates:

Have the most transparent government in the world, including providing public access to all government finances where anyone who is prepared to make the effort can see where every cent of public money goes.
Have the lowest HIV/AIDS incidence in Africa.
Have the lowest TB incidence in Africa.
Have the highest literacy rate in Africa.
Have the lowest unemployment rate in Africa.
Have the highest ratio of scientists and engineers in the Southern Hemisphere.
Be in the lowest 10% of Internet costs.
Have the most independent judiciary in the world.
Have the cleanest air and water in Africa.
Be consistently ranked as one of the 10 best tourist countries in the world.
Have the simplest, most equitable and transparent tax system in the world.

There are many candidates. The thing is for the leadership of this country to state them clearly and unequivocally and repeatedly commit themselves and measure themselves and report back on their progress, their success and their failures, and engage the whole country in pursuing them relentlessly.

This is clearly vastly different to the increasing attitude of denialism and opacity that is building momentum in our country.

The ANC is, and will be, the ruling party in South Africa for the foreseeable future.

Is there anyone, or any group of people, in the ANC with the foresight and courage to fight for a selfless vision for South Africa?