By Paul Moraka
Every generation lives in its era and classifies itself as the best the world has ever seen.
Until another generation emerges, with its own madness and world innovation, the previous ones’ highlights become a distant memory, even mockery to the reigning ones. So is the world view of every generation.
For starters, despite trying, I cannot box myself into a specific generation because I lived in multiple decades, which were so fast-paced that delineating them through decades would render their milestones confusing and misaligned at best.
As Africans, our generational evolution has been so painfully stagnant that others have sold us their mostly inferior culture, language, fashion, cuisine, and spirituality.
In one of his stimulating lectures at the North West University Alumni Dinner lecture late last year, Professor Bonang Mohale lamented what could be achieved if Africans had an alert and active conscience to be developers of their communities.
One of the seminal points he made is that successful nations the world over build business empires around the world, but do not forget their village roots where they or their forebears were born.
A Greek community would come to South Africa and start building houses similar to what they have in Greece; then follow Greek restaurants, schools, orthodox churches, etc.
Every nation in the world that immigrated to Africa practices the same model, and guess who copies and consumes all these in the name of progress? Africans!
We have American fries, French polony, Russian sausage, Greek salad, Indian spices, Chinese noodles, and Italian salad dressing.
In architecture, we have Dutch-roofed houses, Tuscany, English countryside and Mediterranean houses, etc.
The main reason such nations retain their cultures and practices, is for them not to forget where they come from, and for upcoming generations to always know about their ancestral heritage through all senses — taste, sight, hearing, and touch — without even going to their ancestral countries.
This pattern of self-preservation is also seen being actively solidified by Afrikaners, where they even went to the highest courts in the world to protect what they claim to be of their own cultural significance, through worldwide patents — Rooibos tea and Karoo lamb as examples.
Yet, it remains free for all when it comes to African staples, our music, cuisine, drinks; the list is endless — trade patents are held by those who do not even consume the products!
Even our spirituality and marriage rites have been commercialised by non-Africans. All traditional healers’ clothing and paraphernalia is produced by non-Africans.
There are now shops called lobola/maga¬di shops in Marabastad and Fordsburg, where they have standard packages of blankets and wear for the uncles and aunts of every culture. Very nonsensical cultural misappropriation if you ask me.
As for fashion, the more the name of the designer cannot be pronounced, the more expensive the item becomes.
The list of all that Africans consume is so endless that as one observes this generational curse, one wonders if this cycle of self-destruction will ever be broken.
There is no Africa City in China to rival the China cities in every African city; there is no African Market in India to rival Indian markets in every African city; not a single emigrated African, anywhere in the world, has proudly built an African compound with rondavels anywhere in the world.
African cuisine is sold as novelty rather than the adopted staple of the cultural mix.
African culture and religions and all their attendant practices are actively being killed off.
Globalisation was said to be good economically, only as far as it opened access to markets for those countries, but it destroyed the psychosocial fibre of what Africa was.
Increased consumerism for the relatively wealthy heightened the poverty levels of the poor. No African used to go hungry in a village or township when others had plenty.
I hope that though chairing the G20 forum, and being a member of Brics, among other international forums, South Africa will break boundaries to ensure that Africa has exclusive economic zones in countries that have them in Africa and that our practices, language, and ways of life are given equal status.
It cannot be that we have week-long festivals such as the Portuguese, Greek, Jewish, Chinese, and so forth, do here — there are equivalents in Europe, Asia, and beyond.
Hoping for the “woke” African generation to start demanding what the world has been teaching Africa: We gave you our Tit, time to claim our Tat share of self-respect, cultural values, and preservation of our forebears’ roots.
• Moraka is the CEO of Lekale Group
