The Nonviolent Legacy of South Africa

If you have had the opportunity to visit South Africa of recent you undoubtedly are inspired by the friendliness of the people of all races, ages, and backgrounds. Their smiles are contagious, and you wonder how this levity can be so pronounced against the backdrop of such a dramatic history of both tragedy and triumph; tragedy in the growing senseless violence that has gripped the nation in recent years, and the triumph of the fall of apartheid and the building of a new society.

Indeed, South Africa now faces growing violence in its cities, streets, and countryside, with a spiraling murder rate. Unemployment is at 25%, and economic inequality remains a legacy of the past and the greatest of challenges for the nation. At the same time, economic growth has been lifting the ranks of the black middle class. South Africa is Africa’s leading economy, and will be the first African nation to host the World Cup soccer championship this summer. And there are numerous examples where alternative development models are also contributing to build a better future for all South Africans.

While on a recent business trip to Cape Town the inevitable discussion of the South African apartheid struggle came up in a conversation I was having with my Afrikaans agent there. How is it, I asked him, that during the years of struggle and the final days of the overturn of apartheid that the country did not spin out of control into an unstoppable civil war that could perhaps still be ongoing today?

“Very simple, ” he replied. “If it hadn’t been for the leadership of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, we would have likely had such a terrible civil war.”

The gentleman I am speaking with is Afrikaans and at 72 was a member of the old guard, yet he has never left the country and in fact is quite proud of the fact that South Africa has such a story of triumph to tell, for the nonviolent space that was created has allowed the country to move forward in untold ways compared to the scars and destructive forces that civil war would have unleashed.

So the legacy of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, as the sons of Gandhi’s own movement in the very country that first threw the young Indian off the railcar and into the collective consciousness forever, remains a living testament to the power of nonviolence to influence positive social change through inspired and enlightened leadership. This is the leadership we are all called to provide in our own way, beginning with ourselves.

South Africa is a long way from reaching the Promised Land, but the seeds of change there have been deeply planted and remain a great source for optimism. Let’s keep their hope alive.

Angelo Capozzi