HEAL, MY BELOVED COUNTRY

“He who forgets his past is lost” – African Proverb. We all know that without its roots, a tree is doomed to death, but what if the roots are tainted? So curtailed by pesticides and weeds, that it poisons the tree? Then the proverb should read “He who forgets AND DOES NOT HEAL his past is lost”. South Africa is riddled by a brutal & painful past, one that we all know and acknowledge too well, but at what point have we truly sought to heal it? Truth and Reconciliation Committee attempted this great feat – whether it was successful or not is totally your opinion. This week on “The Other Side with Sihle Sibeko”, we assess the pulse of our nation, aiming to heal her so that she may bloom into a more prosperous future.

As stated in previous post, African Spiritual Sciences denote that consciousness (mental/mind) & customs (physical/body) are the fulcrums through which Blackness (spirit/soul – if you will) Expresses itself. Culture is the culmination (combination of consciousness and customs) of how beings in different forms get to experience this Expression. To ask how something is doing, we simply ask “What is the culture of the being?” So, what is South Africa’s current culture? Well look at two indicators: sports & government (because LORD KNOWS how were doing economically & inter-personally).

SPORT: Sport is a really funny, but true indication of the consciousness of a group because sport is a mildly-sophisticated form of competition, which is the dominant global consciousness (think war or business). Before Apartheid, South Africa was banned from partaking in international sporting events, a manifestation of our isolated, segregationist Culture. When 1994 came, there was renewed hope for the future, and a different culture. Subsequently, we produced World Rugby champions in 1995, African footballing champions and finalists (1996 & 1998 respectively), the #1 Test Cricket team and some of the best swimmers in the world all within a span of six years. The country was filled with pride, jubilation and hope for a better tomorrow. As the days of rainbow-nation jubilation faded however, the sporting achievements also began to fade, became more infrequent and negligible - as did almost everything else in a like-for-like fashion. Even hosting a FIFA World Cup couldn’t save the nation - the jubilation dissipated, and what took over was angst! Even the present-day great sporting achievements by our country-folk are marred by, or rather, are reflections of the societal tensions existing in South Africa on a cultural and interpersonal level.  Springboks 2019 World Cup victory marred by reflections of the nation’s racial tensions; Banyana Banyana’s 2022 WAFCON victory marred by reflections patriarchy & inequality, especially in a country of record-high GBV; Caster Semenya’s IAAF ruling reflecting Africa’s struggle to present its brilliance without colonial interference.

Government: Rightly criticized for the lack of policing in Inyanga (Western Cape), Hon. Bheki Cele reacted inflamed, speaking of his fight for human rights against the apartheid system before “politely” telling the gentleman to “SHAATUUUP” and “GEEEHTOUUUD”. Comical as it was, it highlighted something many can see but do not want to admit: the trauma of Apartheid still seething to this day. Hon. Bheki Cele, an elder in his 70s, is being castigated and told his efforts are inadequate by a white man in his 30s. How does he react? With stories of his childhood about white persons calling his father a “garden-boy” and his mother a “kitchen-girl”. An aggrieved 70 year old Minister of Police, reaching back into his childhood to find relevant frame, frozen in his middle-childhood self when agitated by the same affliction that aggrieved his parents, albeit in a different context. An outburst sponsored by trauma. Can you empathize with the pain, both his and what he inherited generationally, that led him to act so irrationally? Now spread that across all parliamentarians – do you think individuals so afflicted by unhealed trauma from an egregious past are ready to serve as leaders in a nation that’s still racially charged by that same trauma source?

Being frozen in trauma is no excuse for gross incompetence - you have to heal it at some point, grow from it. So what does South Africa have to heal? Many things, but firstly:

• Nature: Ancient African lifestyles maintained harmonious relationship with nature. Before a fruit is picked, one must ask the tree for permission. Equally so, agricultural and mining activity on the continent predate colonialism and industrialization. Ancient African agricultural & mining disciplines proposed that one only utilizes WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR THEIR SUBSISTENCE, and REPLENISHES THE EARTH WITH NEW FORESTATION because of the spiritual relationship of supplication. The positive-feedback loop of supply from nature and rehabilitation by Man ensured harmony and continuity. The Culture of agriculture & mining today are very different – now add other factors such as Scorched-Earth policies, various pollution methods, land filled with uncleansed bloodshed, and, and, and… ;
• Displacement of People: Wilful displacement of a people from their Ancestral homeland carries material consequence. African customs denote that a people have a direct relationship with the surrounding nature of an environment; they are custodians responsible for ensuring harmonious co-existence between themselves and the supply provide by nature. They carry the knowledge of the land. Misbalance happens when they are cast-away from the environment and the knowledge that maintains order is misappropriated;
• Self: From a disavowed, often medicated (read DRUNK) relationship with ourselves, to a disavowed relationship with each other. All the bloodshed spilled on our land has created feedback loop of violence since it is that very bloodshed that nourishes the land we live on.
• Women: Women, like the land, suffer fatal mistreatment. An aside, a tradition that persist today is the burying a new-born’s placenta in the Ancestral home. Displacing a people then inappropriately commercializing that land is equivalent to the inappropriate treatment of women on that very land. African’s don’t refer to this continent as “Mama” for nothing.

All the above are part of another necessary healing – the healing of our Ancestors, which carries a frequency equivalence to healing our past and our subconscious. In AS, Ancestors carry the responsibility of guiding their progeny to fulfilling their purpose. One may hear “Khanyisa boGogo naboMkhulu”- meaning “bring Light to our lives, great Ancestors”; but how can an Ancestor bring light if they remain in the darkness of their own torment and trauma? Equivalently, how can one seek a greater life if their past and subconscious consistently communicate they are unworthy, unlovable, and deserve of a life of torment, frozen in trauma? To heal our Ancestors, which also means to heal our past and subconscious, offers us a chance to escape to proverbial hell we’ve designed for ourselves, stepping into a new world of abundance, bliss and joy.

Wealth as a consciousness has different expressions for Africans and Westerners – ask the African with abundant land and livestock whether they’d leave all of it for a luxurious Monaco-based penthouse owned by the Westerner, and vice versa. Poverty, a manifestation of the trauma face by this nation, is generational trauma chiseled in South Africa. To rid South Africa of poverty (and all other trauma), however, requires a full healing of self, other, nature and Ancestors. It also requires fully embracing the African wealth consciousness of palatial, land & resource rich opulence open to all for collective benefit. Anything else is a short-term fix to a long-term problem. Masibuyele’Mbo, silulame, siphumelele (Let us return to our Spiritual power, heal and receive the success we deserve).

Siyabonga!

This weeks affirmation: I deserve to heal and live a blissful life

This weeks vibe: https://music.apple.com/us/song/1613203845 / https://open.spotify.com/track/1WPAYFiVutkr994UegVaL9 / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxPKiY9VAnU - Under the Moon by Alex Isley and Jack Dine | https://twitter.com/TheSihleSibeko/status/1556654129900097545 - Healing through the wisdom of Al'Quran!

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