2025 REFLECTIONS: REALITIES OF OUR TIME

2025 was without doubt a profoundly instructive year for both our country and for the trajectory of world history.

During this year, we witnessed epoch-shaping global events such as the persistence of old armed conflicts and the emergence of new ones.

We have seen how emerging technologies are being increasingly used to bolster imperialism and empire and to perpetuate human suffering.

We have also seen the persistence of vulgar levels of various forms of inequality both within and between countries.

As a country, we found ourselves on the receiving end of an unprovoked imperialist attack (led by the US). This has surely taught us a number of invaluable lessons about sovereignty in such critical areas as international relations (especially for Afrika and the Global South), economics, military, science and the value of human solidarity.

As citizens, we also came face-to-face with some of the most grotesque revelations about what has been happening in some of our country’s public institutions, some of which are responsible for our safety as citizens.

Alongside all this, we have also seen the persistence of multidimensional black deprivation and how this continues to push our people (especially black youth) to dangerous levels of desperation.

Then there are of course also the problems of crime (especially murder and rape), the mass killings of Black people (which is seemingly becoming a common thing), and the problems associated with illegal immigration.

Away from the headline grabbing events, has been the silent and unspoken struggles that happen behind closed doors. These are the struggles of black households with no income, poor nutrition and health care, child headed households.

The struggles of malnourished children who walk long and perilous distances to school and find themselves regularly exposed to physical and other forms of abuse, societal violence, drugs (especially alcohol), incarceration, and absent parents.

Related to this is the bigger problem of weak or disintegrating nucleus black family structures- principally because of historical and structural factors.

THE OBLIGATIONS OF OUR GENERATION

I have no doubt that these and other problems I may not have enumerated trouble many of my generation deeply (particularly those who form part of the black activist community).

In fact, given the sheer impact of these problems on our functionality and productivity as Black people, by now, we should have initiated regular gatherings, (in the various parts of our country), in which we perform an honest assessment on how we got here.

Such gatherings would be aimed at developing a coherent and shared understanding of our condition as Black people in South Africa, and further seek to develop a shared plan or agenda for our destiny over the next 15 to 30 years.

However, to be able to do this, we must address at least two major internal weaknesses. The first is the tendency to look at our problems through the parochialism of ethnic, religious, or party-political affiliation or even regional location.

The second is the tendency to expect someone else other than us to lead the project of finding solutions to the problems facing us as Black people in South Africa.Who must do it if not us?

The problems we face as Black people in South Africa are quite complex and unless we elevate our thinking to understand the importance of a shared agenda, group action and solidarity, we are likely to experience the same problems and frustrations in 2026 and beyond.

But also, our capacity to craft a qualitatively different future for our children and their children, will remain weak.

It is therefore my firm belief that, each of us who claim to be genuinely concerned about the direction that things are taking in our country and the condition of our communities, must seriously think about what contribution we are prepared to make in crafting a qualitatively different future for our children and their children.

GRATITUDE

Finally, I must also state that my musings are inspired by a profound impulse of gratitude. They are inspired by my memory of all the priceless moments of Black Love that I was privileged to experience in my interaction with each of you during the course 2025.

Thank you for the insightful conversations and mind-shifting posts. Thank you for the mind-elevating essays, books, and videos you have shared with me.

Thank you also for celebrating my small victories and showering me with acts of compassion during my moments of grief and sorrow.

May you not find yourself consumed or bamboozled by the ephemeral and deceptive glitter of the “festive season”.

Take some time out to rest. Be kind to your body and guard your sanity! If you can, do some exercising, even if it is just walking for 30 minutes, twice in a week. Believe me, I know what difference it makes to the body and mind.

Ohh! don’t forget to hydrate Mutapa style! Most importantly, focus on the things and people that ignite your soul. NEVER! allow anybody to make you doubt yourself or your capacity reinvent yourself.

You matter and so do your dreams! May you emerge victorious from whatever internal battles you are fighting! I love you Darkie yakithi!

Join me in preparing to turn 2026 into a year of Hope and Resilience for Black people.

Makhosi amakhulu