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National agenda must bind us together Modidima Mannya, The New Age, Johannesburg, 7 April 2015 It is reported that French historian Ernest Renan is known for the statement that a nation is "a daily referendum" and that nations are based as much on what the people jointly forget as what they remember. I guess the daily referendum part must relate, of necessity, to the daily engagement on issues of public interest and a constant debate among the people on what affects them on a daily basis and this must be resolved in the best interests of all. This I guess, should, of necessity, influence social discourse and policy direction. Our leaders would probably be better armed to lead us if this daily referendum were to be the norm. The part that relates to what the people jointly forget as to what they remember explains the reality of how society, as a whole, can easily convert into being hypocrites. Society indeed often jointly elects to turn a blind eye to the happenings of today, well aware of the implications thereof tomorrow, with the residual energy to raise the same issues tomorrow when they appear to be a problem. When this happens, the nature of the daily referendum is robust, though for a limited period, but characterised by the ease with which responsibility is shifted, and the blame game takes centre stage. In all such instances society and the nation will never accept responsibility. With so much happening in our country and with so much being said from different quarters of society, one often wonders whether this is the type of a daily referendum we need. We are quick to be critical, but very short on solutions. We are good at blaming, but very short on taking responsibility. We are good at destroying, but very short on building and rebuilding. We are good at developing policy, but very short on effective implementation. Our national problems, ranging from the race issue, lack of basic services, crime, xenophobia, unemployment, poverty, economic growth, corruption, political power struggles, quality of health and education, drug abuse and many other problems we face deserve a proper daily referendum. They also deserve that we do not jointly forget the root causes and only remember the existence of the problem when it explodes. The nation appears indeed to have conveniently forgotten where we come from. We come from decades of colonialism and apartheid. We come from a homeland system. We come from decades of racial discrimination, economic exploitation and exclusion, a brutal police and defence force, international isolation and mass struggles to bring about the change we have today. But we are also conveniently able to remember that we negotiated a political transition from a bigoted system to a constitutional democracy. We conveniently forget that we once clapped hands in unison when Nelson Mandela said: "Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another." Our daily referendum must always remind us of this profound statement. The manner and nature of the conflicts between and within civic organisations, organs of state, political parties and between citizens suggest that there are things we have jointly forgotten. The current turmoil within our organs of state, the labour movement, state owned enterprises, political parties and communities, whatever the causes, raise major questions whether we do have a daily referendum on these issues. It suggests there are number of things we jointly, conveniently forget. And what we jointly forget, which must be part of our daily referendum, must be the key objectives we seek to achieve as a nation and why we have these structures in the first instance. Unless we start a proper and robust daily referendum on these issues, the wonderful rights enshrined in our Constitution will remain paper rights. We will forever remain a divided nation or not a nation at all. The energy dispensed in these conflicts can be better deployed to address our pressing challenges. A nation takes collective responsibility for its future. It will only be until we start to build a true and real national identity that we can start building the true idea of a national homogeneity and make better sense of the confusion of our realities. Our national agenda must be the glue that binds us together. Hegemony does not mean we think alike. It means we must find national consensus on issues of national interest. . Modidima Mannya is a writer and commentator From: http://tnaepaper.co.za/ -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. 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