Motsoko Pheko and the Politics of Integrity, Land and Dignity
“We must work for a politically stable country. But if we do not come up with a more realistic and just land policy, this country will not escape a bomb explosion caused by the continued land dispossession [of the African people]. To think that land can be equitably distributed from the crumbs of the Native Land Act 1913 and the Native Trust Land Act 1936, now entrenched in section 25 (7) of the constitution, is a dangerous political miscalculation and illusion.” – Dr. Pheko, Land Agriculture and African Identity (page 290, Battles of an African Shepherd, Dr. Motsoko Pheko -2018
The land question in the Republic of South Africa is not only an urgent matter, it is a question that has to be answered by those it impacts most negatively, namely, the so-called landless Afrikan majority. Whatever restorative justice that is required throughout the entire continent, has to begin at the very root of the land dispossession crisis, for we are in a desperate crisis situation as a people. While it is true that getting to the root of the land crisis requires cool heads and more tact than sentimentality, it is always an issue that brings up tension between the dispossessed and those who possess the powers of production, the so-called masters of industry.
It is only when we can intentionally take heed to the voices of elders such as the recently transitioned Motsoko Pheko, that we can make serious strides towards achieving the original goals of the anti-colonial struggle. Indeed, in the absence of a just and realistic land restoration policy, all else is copping out and fitting in. It is not only a waste of precious time for the suffering masses of still disenfranchised Natives of this land, but also an insult to the ancestors who struggled earnestly not for democracy or human rights, but for the restoration of the former dignity and integrity of Afrikan people. All other shortcuts and temporary solutions are simply so much time-wasting leading us all towards a disastrous precipice. Without land, we are undignified and fatally compromised as a people. Landlessness makes it very difficult to separate the wolves and hyenas from the sheep. Those who possess and use the land for their own private profit also wield the power to influence behavior as they also hold the means to produce food, water, and public institutions that serve their own agendas and not the Black Agenda, the need to be completely economically and psychologically liberated in the land of our ancestors.
The work of good shepherds is to use everything within their power and influence to guide or lead their flock away from precipitous or dangerous situations. The whole land of Afrika hangs by shoddy threads at various types of precipices. We are a nation that is not even a fully defined nation-state, not to mention, still nameless and divided.
Years after paper independence, constitutionalism-democracy, and false-alarm emancipation, Afrikan self-determination, and progress remain an illusion, a mission thwarted by internal and external forces that profit from the distraction and destruction of the Afrikan personality.
The multiple failures in leadership, both corporate and political, have led to a large-scale and pervasive splintering of many liberation movements, and Pheko’s beloved movement, the Pan African Congress has not been immune from that, despite its solid ideological foundations the PAC has not fared well in the competitive struggle to earn the confidence of the landless, jobless, leaderless masses of Black folk.
Finding effective ways toward the Promised Land has been a terribly elusive uphill battle for the children of Nehanda, Lembede, Sobukwe, and Biko, yet ironically, we have not been lacking in many exemplars of dignified and defiant leadership. Why are the Beautifull Ones Not Yet Born? Where are the ones fearless enough to challenge the status quo and restore our integrity and dignity? What could be at the heart of the problem? Clearly, the lack of momentum does not lie solely among our leaders. Leadership is merely an aspect of the challenges we face. Ntate Pheko has authored a plethora of books, articles, and speeches. Like so many ancestral and present-day Pan Afrikanists, he remains a torchbearer and a courageous guide. All we need to do is make his works and voice more readily available to ordinary Afrikans in various diverse communities to make his message flourish. These should be regarded as a wealth of wisdom and signposts, not only in thought leadership but living examples of how a committed Afrikan Shepherd conducts himself as a leader for his continent, his community as well as his own family. We have been abundantly blessed to witness such Black fathers in a South Africa that has become a sad statistic in terms of absenteeism in our communities. Ntate Pheko and those who are as dedicated to total liberation have repeatedly pointed out that racism is not the only challenge facing our societies, but the arch nemesis remains imperialism and its handmaiden, capitalism. Those who are complicit in the continuing existence of these double evils are always working towards maintaining the illusion of freedom and perpetuation of false notions of democracy, meanwhile the landless remain trapped in soul-eroding concentration camps called the townships and rural areas that appear stuck in time.
It is possible and perhaps highly recommended that we take a long and earnest look at our own distractedness, heedlessness, and unresponsiveness to the shepherd’s calls. For many years, Pheko, like a lone messenger at the United Nations, and other international platforms as well as in the mired terrain of parliament, has been crying out in the wilderness of anti-black delusion, daring to be the voice of reason. Extolling and warning those who dither around the direct and honest approach to land restoration, warning that they are playing with fire, Pheko never minced his words. Here he was in parliament as early as 2008, warning against political prostitution, a phenomenon that has become endemic these days: “The constitution of the Republic of South Africa – Fourth Amendment Bill is a gross violation of the internationally recognised doctrine of retrospectivity. The Bill undermines the electoral system that is presently based on proportional representation. The Bill is a foundation for tyranny. I have said it before, and I say it again. A constitution is not a doormat to use for political opportunism and expediency. A constitution is not a condom to be used to play games with political prostitutes. The constitution of a democratic country is sacrosanct.” – p. 206, Chapter 14; When “Floor-Crossing” Bill Was Debated In Parliament
South Africa has a lot of land reform plans that have sadly fallen short of delivering the desired effects. The government’s National Development Plan as well as the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture are quite clear regarding how land redistribution can be achieved, but, failure to implement these robust plans can be directly attributed to a lack of integrity among leaders in this pivotal field. Again, I challenge us to pay more careful attention to true leaders such as Pheko, who are reservoirs of the kind of knowledge we need to thrive as a people, leaving behind the fears and complexes of white supremacy and its monopolization of our lives. As another prophet once wailed; “In the abundance of water only the fool is thirsty.”
Menzi KaGudu Maseko
07/05/2024
Green Ankh Works 