I am privileged enough to be a part of a team like nothing I ever imagined before and one that is without a doubt like no other before.

After a six month journey that now sees us charging down the home straight I regard all fourteen of you as companions who will always be the most integral part of a big chapter in my life. You will forever be irreplaceable and invaluable all through the love, dedication, enthusiasm and passion you have been able to show and give me.

It has been beyond amazing being able to watch and share SAWIP guide and mould you into responsible, professional and exceptional people. This in itself is something that we can never truly thank SAWIP enough for, no matter how hard we tried.

That said, I feel that we have built a special bond and nothing more than holding onto that bound and growing it further for the greater good will give greater thanks. This bound was formed and kept together through various and more importantly genuine qualities which you all possess such as, love, determination, respect, patience (a lot of that with me I might add), passion, enthusiasm, compassion, humour...

It is these qualities which you all posses that make SAWIP arguably the most effective and elite Leadership and Community Service Programme in South Africa. In all honesty I only say arguably so as not to be arrogant or obnoxious. I hope that deep down inside you all believe it and are proud, because the only reason that it is, is through being able to continually draw in individuals such as yourselves.

Aristotle once said “What we do in life echoes in eternity.” Even though we have only been privileged and honoured enough to be under the SAWIP wing for only six months. I can convincingly say that presently and in future the impact that you and SAWIP have on my and many other people’s lives has and will continue to echoe in eternity.

In light of active citizenship initiatives taking place across the country and the National Planning Commissions Strategic Plan, the relationship between obligations and rights has been playing on mind a lot. More so, in terms of how to use the one to strengthen the other and also the fundamental of the nature of this relationship between the two.

From this an important question for me is: Why do the apparent ‘entitlement syndromes’ lingering in society slants towards rights as opposed to obligations in order to enjoy those desired rights?

Literally by chance and like an answer to my ponderings, I bumped into a Book Review of a book by T.R. Reid titled, “Confucius lives next door: What living in the East teaches us about living in the West.” The teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551 – 479 BC) are usually presented as a philosophy about social harmony over state control, where societies live in harmony and stability in a two way yin and yang flow of duties and responsibilities.

The people’s duty to work towards the development of the state would be balanced by the government’s duty to care for the people and to provide for their welfare. A Confucian individual is thus one who is born into obligations, as opposed to their Western counterpart, who is born with rights. In essence what this translates to is that the former is bound by rites, while the later is protected by rights.

‘Confucius says:’ if everyone had morality, they would not need to be governed. This may help to explain the importance of the role of the state, family and community in the South African development context. What I have learned the most out of the bit of reading I have done from and on Confucius is that there is a huge need in South Africa to transfer greater responsibility to individuals and society, mobilising the population in a greater development effort.

In future it would be great to see a society performing its obligations towards and for each other rather than demanding its rights from each other.

The Constitutional Court is now at a point where it has shown that it playing a continued growing and vital role in the realisation of socio – economic rights. This is comforting in that it depicts how the provisions made for socio – economic rights in the Constitution are becoming more and more living and this leads to a solid constitutional framework within which to address challenges to the realisation and protection of socio – economic rights.

Issues of poverty and access to socio – economic rights needs to be more of a priority for the state of the goals of the constitution will not be realised and socio – economic rights will not be fully granted to all citizens of South Africa. There is a need for a more proactive and progressive nature of developing socio – economic policies and distributing socio – economic resources adequately.

South Africa has a number of various groups who remain vulnerable and disadvantaged and do not yet enjoy the benefits of adequate access to socio – economic rights, it is evident that in order to achieve and advance real equality in society the State needs to constantly take progressive steps that will result in the full access to and enjoyment of fully exercising socio – economic rights.

As a nation we need to understand why we have a constitution, where it comes from and why it takes the specific form that it does. We need to be reminded of a time when the constitution was not a given source of law. We need to understand the hopes and aspirations of the drafters of this unique document as well as the hopes and aspirations of society at large that influenced the drafters at the time.

The ending of apartheid led to an exuberant feeling of freedom, constitutionalism, change and positivity. Negotiations were conducted in light of this, and this helped foster the personal relations between many of the opposing negotiators and helped forge the ultimate prize of the negotiations, the Constitution.

Negotiations were fiercely contested, and the Constitution is the product of these contests; as such it can be argued to represent fully the needs of the country. Why then should the Constitution ever be altered? Should the Constitutional Court be reviewed? As an aside, how many of the constitutional drafters/negotiators are still involved in politics, and in what role?

In light of the fact that that our democracy has reached the age of majority (18 years) this year, many feel it appropriate to take a grown up and critical look at it. If South Africa set off on a transformative journey at the onset of our constitutional dispensation, then certainly we have yet to arrive at our destination. Of course, this is not necessarily an indication of failure. It has been suggested that if viewed as a permanent ideal rather than a temporary event, transformation is a journey that has no destination.

I have put together a summarised list of the lessons that I learned from watching Ben Zanders DVD about his book titled “The Art of Possibility”.

►If there is no path create your own.

►Never doubt the capacity of the people you lead to accomplish whatever you dream for them.

►When leadership is defined not as a position you hold, but as a way of being, you discover that you can lead from wherever you are.

►A leader’s job is to speak possibility and awake possibility in other people.

►Display a strong vision of the future so that you have a clear sense of direction.

►Communicate effectively and listen well.

►Seek responsibility and be responsible.

►Quiet the voice in the head that says “I can’t do it”.

The glue of the South African Constitution is the equality clause. Equality is at the heart of the new South African constitutional dispensation.

The importance placed on equality as a right for all South Africans stems directly from the principles and values encompassed in the Preamble of the South African Constitution. Particularly that we as South Africans as a starting point to embracing democracy need to “recognise the injustices of the past” and “heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights…”

In essence what this means is that in the South African context the purpose of democratic transformation is to ultimately create a society based on social justice and in order to achieve that equality serves as a cornerstone from which that will be created and maintained.

Therefore the challenge for us all in the new constitutional dispensation is to constantly aim at achieving this. As a golden rule this needs to be reflected in our approach and endeavours in life.

On Friday the 13^th of July 2012 I formed part of the team that lead the team discussion. The discussion focused on youth unemployment as well as youth entrepreneurship in South Africa.

The following material was provided to stimulate the discussion:

Unemployment- South Africa's Youth Unemployment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j3oLoDWAMA (3:55)

- South Africa's 'ticking timebomb'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo94GQDBfWg (2:38)

Entrepreneurship: - Entrepreneurs- the new heroes of South Africa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcBP9ZC7YKw (3:55)

We were privileged enough to be joined by one of our board members Karin Strydom (SAWIP Board Member) as well as Harvey (Friend of SAWIP).

Two hours of meaningful engagement the question was wrapped up by the following question; What do we have going for us, as a nation that counts for us?

*Here are snippets of some of the responses:

Alli – “… the fact that we are where we are in 18 years…”

Jason – “we are desperate for change and success… passion for positive change…

Shannon – “…young nation and we have all the potential in the world.”

Saif – “…platforms for all the young with energy needed for change, unifying platforms…”

Thami – “… we need ‘fighters for employment’ engaging with each other…”

ED – “culture of community…”

Daniel – “... we have the infrastructure to get ahead.”

Thuli – “… we are very aware of issues and we need to act more on them…”

Harvey – “Significant amount of opportunities…”

Karin – “… how to make best for South Africa is not about ourselves… Rope the Board in and build a big SAWIP community…”

Dinika – “thinking of the whole… tackling conflict head on…”

Parveen – “unity and energy… we can do it…”

Food for thought

“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.” – John Maxwell

From this the question who or what is a leader becomes important.

I have become very of Ben Zander’s viewpoints on leadership which can be summed up as viewing leadership as the art of possibility. The art of possible encompasses various notions, namely; that If there is no path create your own, one should never doubt the capacity of the people they lead to accomplish whatever you dream for them, when leadership is defined not as a position you hold, but rather as a way of being, you discover that you can lead from wherever you are. What this means in practical terms is that a leaders job is to speak possibility and ensure that all those you lead are alive with possibility.

It is through the values and principles highlighted by Ben Zander that as a starting point leadership is about transforming oneself into a new way of being, in order to awake possibility in other people. The easiest way to achieve this is by speaking possibility. This is when it becomes very important for a leader to quiet the voice in the head that says “I cant do it”.

Ben Zander: This video is certainly worth sparing two minutes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrGAJ7hVh10

The eventual inclusion of socio – economic rights in our final constitution is one on the implausible features that grants the rationale behind our constitution being heralded by many as the best in the world.

The following socio – economic rights are entrenched in the Constitution:

• Everyone has the rights to a healthy environment
• All citizens (individuals and or communities) who in the past endured land related violations and or discrimination as a result of the past racially discriminatory laws or practices now have the right of access to land, to tenure security, and to land restitution
• Everyone is afforded the right to access adequate housing and protection against arbitrary evictions and demolitions.
• No one may be refused emergency medical treatment as such everyone has the right to have access to:

1) health care services, including reproductive health care

2)sufficient food and water,

3) social security, including, if they are unable to support themselves and their dependants, appropriate social assistance.

• Every child has the right to basic nutrition, shelter, basic health care services and social services. The right to be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation.
• Everyone has the right to education.
• Everyone who is detained, including every sentenced prisoner is afforded the right to conditions of detention that respect human dignity, including the provision at State expense, of adequate accommodation, nutrition, reading material and medical treatment.

Social justice in the South African constitutional framework will thus be achieved through the constant progressive realisation in making resources available for South African citizens to enjoy their socio – economic rights.

*This is a poem primarily for self reflection. I first read this poem when I was 16 years of age. To this day the words continue to echo in my subconscious. I hope it will have a similar affect on you.

When you get what you want in your struggle for self,

And the world makes you King for a day,

Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,

And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn't your Father, or Mother, or Wife,

Who’s judgment upon you must pass.

The feller whose verdict counts most in your life

Is the guy staring back from the glass.

He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,

For he's with you clear up to the end,

And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test

If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,

And think you're a wonderful guy,

But the man in the glass says you're only a bum

If you can't look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,

And get pats on the back as you pass,

But your final reward will be heartaches and tears

If you've cheated the guy in the glass.

A multinational touring party embarked on a tour of a rural village in the heart of the Transkei. On route of their tour the group was appalled by the fact that the village had no running water, thus they all decided to provide the village with running water. The installation of running water was achieved and naturally this left the group as a whole with a sense of pride and fulfillment as a result of having positively contributed to the betterment and well being of the rural community.

Six months after the installation of the taps the women of the community unanimously decided to break the taps as they had observed that through the installation of the taps they did not spend as much time together. They no longer took the long journeys together down to the river to fetch water and in turn they no longer shared their stories, worries, happiness, grievances’, complaints, suggestions etc. with each other. This ultimately led to a breakdown in the spirits and unity of the women within the community.

A further six months after the damage to the taps the women of the community went about their lives in the manner that they best knew and which they were not willing to compromise now more than ever.

Food for thought:

How does the impact of the installation of the taps in the village relate to the traditional and or general approaches currently used in rural development?

I have never been one to classify or categorise various things, because personally I have never really been able to understand or appreciate the craze to define everything that we as humans do according to certain “boxes”. I have always heavily lent towards ‘substance’ in the age old debate of substance versus form.

In my view definitiveness is something that too often creates boundaries where they are not essentially necessary, but then again it probably stems from the human quest to obtain and maintain a sense of belonging in respective spheres of life.

Research has shown that there are generally four orientations to learning:

• behaviourist,
• cognitivist,
• humanist,
• social and situational

In essence learning in itself is not something that can be defined as being one particular thing. This is a result of learning taking place in various contexts and processes. Thus although the above mentioned orientations to learning have been researched and developed they ultimately encompass each other and cannot truly be separated.

The separation for me has resulted in putting learning styles and orientations to learning into boxes although this is the kind of thing which does not belong in any box.

That said, it is through the weekly SAWIP Team discussions that I have been able to identify and relate with two learning orientations a lot closer.

Firstly, as a cognitivist, more than ever I am now able to go through various mental processes before, during and after various discussion points and topics.

Secondly, the humanist approach to learning, I truly believe that we as humans all have potential to do things beyond what we believe that we can, however due to various factors which take place throughout our lives this potential is not always realized or sometimes even wasted. As a result it essentially boils down to how much one is willing to fulfill their potential.

What do the eyes around us look like?

I stand here before you representing a family, Ndinisa, a clan, Ndlamba, a small village, eMagalakangqa, a university, University of Cape Town, a country, South Africa, an amazing leadership, professional development and community service programme, SAWIP and most importantly at this very moment in time, the youth.

By the time I was in high school I had pretty much already identified at that age things that I was passionate about but I don’t know that anybody ever told me that I had the power to make the difference in my country, continent and the world.

Having been raised in two vastly different realities I have always been the kind of person who is thinking, what can I do and knowing that a countless number of people have wondered that and eventually found things, has always been encouraging to me.

Unlike then, I now know that even from a very young age there is a lot that can be done. Day by day SAWIP is helping to open up our eyes to that, so I think that it is fair and good that we are receiving that message at a critical time in our lives and that of our developing nation.

I have always preferred to focus on what I have gained as opposed to what I have never had. The beauty of growing up in the Transkei was that I was able to gain those lessons within adversity. For example that question from my teenage years, what can I do?

In time I realised that this was the most meaningful question I have ever asked myself.

There is a book called “Locked in a room full of open doors” by Ernest T Campbell. His theme indicates that people can still be prisoners within when all the doors without have been opened. Simply because no reduction of constraints outside can guarantee freedom within the individual.

Within this room full of open doors I constantly find myself sitting in a chair. I am too afraid to get up and get out of that chair because I fear what it is going to look like on the other side, maybe I fear what possibility is, instead I rather sit while the silence and solitude systematically severs my will, sanctioning and seducing me to submit to the environment, attitude, belief and expectations of the mass majority.

I subscribe to the school of thought that there is a light deep down inside all of us, my point of departure lies in the belief that it is dimming. Some of us prefer for it to dim.

We need to make sure that this light, that starts off as a candle goes from being a candle to a bonfire, from a bonfire into a towering inferno. More often than not, at home, like all the members of the SAWIP 2012 team, I meet, see and hear of young people who have a light inside that is burning so brightly that you don’t know how to turn the volume down. It is your job, your duty, your responsibility to share that light with as many people as you possibly can.

We need to remind those who are failing us, our country, continent and world that we have been naturally infused with the promise of potential and possess every bit of ability to push that into a reality where we can passionately pursue whatever purpose or divine destiny that we want. The truth of the matter is that it is up to each one of us to be able to do what it takes to stay out of your own way.

It goes back to sitting in that chair in a room full of open doors. That chair that holds us down, that chair that keeps us alone, that chair that does not give us the audacity and boldness to do whatever it is we were born to do

Time has been waiting for the South African youth to once again get up, it is time for us to get out that chair, and stop making excuses that are compromising the integrity of who we are, compromising the integrity of who we were born to be, compromising the integrity, character and accountability that we have in order to manifest our greatness into society.

Great moments are born from great opportunity and that is exactly what the youth of South Africa have, that is what our heritage has earned for us, but here is the thing, we only have one lifetime. Let us never ever forget that this is our time. We were all meant to be here.

We need to show appreciation by humbly showing those who have laid the foundations and paved the way by leaving their foot prints, that unlike them we do not need a Nelson Mandela, we need a united youth who will make sure that he echoes in eternity.

We need to depend on our power by the ability to make other people powerful. Being in the South African Consulate in New York City I would like to urge the “powers” that be to awaken possibility in us the youth.

Ben Zander formulated the concept of leadership being the art of possibility. From this I can say that you will know you are doing an effective job when you look into our eyes and if our eyes are shining then you know you are doing a proper job, our eyes are clearly not shinning as bright as they should. In the words of Ben Zander you need to ask yourself “who am I being that my children’s eyes are not shining?”

We can all ask ourselves who are we being and what do the eyes around us look like?

I am taking a well calculated guess and will say that when I first saw the words;

“The struggle continues

Freedom is coming tomorrow”

the only significance that I placed on the words were along the lines of being a fitting end to one of my favourite movies of all time.

For those of you thinking... “What movie?”

Remember Sarafina?

(Sarafina full movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRaFRCAPWJk&feature=related)

If you were fortunate enough to have watched Sarafina, I sincerely plead that you take a moment and think back to whether or not you placed any significance to those words?

If you have not yet watched the movie let’s just say you had to read those words on a massive bill board, what significance would you place on the words;

“The struggle continues

Freedom is coming tomorrow”

Would you carry on along your merry way? Would you stop?

Would the words capture you into deep emotions or thoughts?

Here we are, 20 years later and the words highlighted in the closing scene of Sarafina for obvious reasons have not changed but I certainly have.

This is not just due to 'clocking up mileage' in the journey of life but primarily because the notion of freedom is entrenched in my being totally differently in comparison to the characters of the film.

Unlike in the closing scene of Sarafina I was fortunate enough to not have to consciously and physically wait for “freedom” to come. My earliest and vivid memory of Nelson Mandela is at the Final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

(Sarafina closing scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQwifgTxNTw )

Be that as it may freedom is still coming. That is because we have not yet achieved freedom socially and economically. We are currently a very unequal nation and thus it cannot be said with conviction that we have achieved freedom.

The hard truth of the matter is that until we do “The Struggle Continues and Freedom is Coming Tomorrow”.

The struggle continues and that is why for me Freedom Day should be celebrated with a pinch …or two of salt.

Freedom Day not only symbolises the birth of our Rainbow Nation but it also reminds us of the need to collectively uphold the principles and values enshrined in our Constitution.

It is a day dedicated to acknowledging and appreciating all those who have left their footprints in pursuit of building a united and proud nation.

In my reflections on freedom the words of Nelson Mandela always come to mind, when he said:

"To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

Dialogue 1: Active Citizenship: Realising Africa’s Full Potential

I prefer to refer to the people of South Africa rather than speak of citizens or citizenship. For me ‘the people of South Africa’ encompasses everyone who forms a part of our beautiful nation. It also represents the rainbow nation and our global links more accurately. My thinking emanates from the first line of the Preamble of our Constitution which states: “We, the people of South Africa”. This also ties in with promoting the spirit of Ubuntu which to a large extent has been lost in a countless number of texts rather than live in us and through us as the people of South Africa. I fear that the same will happen with the principles and values of our constitution. It is important that I stress this is in no ways an attempt to find fault in the notion of active citizenship. At times it is often easy to overlook the basic solutions in redressing complex issues. Might that not be the case here?

As such I feel we need to go back to the drawing board and resuscitate our Constitutional principles and values. We need to ignite that desire and sense of urgency to build a nation where the moral fibre reflects active citizenship and thus assimilating it into a natural way of life for us all. Our Constitution provides us with the perfect framework to do so and urges us to all play our part. We easily forget that we have inherited the responsibility of being active citizens through the birth of the new constitutional dispensation. It highlights the need for participatory democracy and participatory social change and development. This inheritance is clearly evident in the Preamble of our Constitution which states “…heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights;…” I love the idea of South Africans being active citizens for the greater good of our country, continent and the world. I believe that contrary to popular belief the struggle continues and our ‘new struggle’ lies in unlocking each other’s potential. We are a nation with all the potential in the world and I have all the faith in the world that it will all be realised one day. That remains interesting but pretty much unimportant until all the people of South Africa realise this and we all live our lives with that belief entrenched in our minds and hearts. "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" (Lord bless Africa)