Previn Vedan|Published
A COMMUNITY cannot move forward with confidence unless it is willing to look honestly at where it has come from, recognise how far it has travelled, and confront the distance it still has to go.
Every community carries a story of struggle and sacrifice, of dreams deferred and promises fulfilled, of challenges endured and possibilities yet to be realised.
That story is written in our streets, our homes, our schools, and the aspirations parents hold for their children. If we are to speak honestly about our future, we must first confront our past. We must ask what we inherited, what we have built, where we have fallen short, and what we must commit ourselves to achieving. This is neither an exercise in defending every failure nor an invitation to dismiss genuine progress. Meaningful progress demands both honesty and perspective.
South Africa’s democratic journey was never going to be easy. Apartheid left a deeply entrenched social and economic legacy, shaping where people lived, the education they received, their access to employment, and the opportunities available to their children.
Our democratic project was therefore never simply about changing who governed. It was about transforming people’s material circumstances, restoring dignity and ensuring that the circumstances of one’s birth would no longer determine the limits of one’s future.
The African National Congress emerged from this history as the principal liberation movement that led the struggle for a democratic South Africa. Its contribution to our freedom cannot be erased from our national story, nor should we take for granted the sacrifices of those who fought, suffered and gave their lives for the democracy we enjoy today. Yet history brings responsibility.
A liberation movement cannot ask only to be remembered for what it achieved yesterday. It must also be judged by what it is prepared to accomplish tomorrow. Our political choices must therefore be informed by more than nostalgia, slogans or personalities. They must reflect an honest assessment of the work undertaken, the needs that remain and the credibility of the commitments being made for the years ahead.
The past deserves recognition. The present demands accountability. The future requires a plan. When we look at our communities, we must acknowledge both progress and persistent hardship.
We must recognise the homes delivered, infrastructure developed and access to services expanded where this has occurred. But we must also confront households still waiting for adequate housing, communities struggling with water shortages, roads requiring attention, young people searching for employment and families living with poverty and inequality.
These realities can exist side by side, sometimes on the same street. For some, democracy has brought tangible improvements. For others, its promise remains frustratingly distant. Many have experienced progress, but not enough, or not at the pace they need and deserve. We must have the courage to acknowledge these experiences. A family waiting for housing needs more than reminders of historical progress. It needs a credible plan and measurable commitments.
A young person unable to find employment needs access to skills, economic opportunities and meaningful pathways into the workplace. A resident without reliable water needs functioning services and accountability for their delivery. These are not unreasonable expectations. They are the standards by which democratic government must be judged. But accountability must be accompanied by a serious consideration of what comes next.
It is relatively easy to identify what is wrong. It is harder to develop practical solutions, secure resources, build partnerships and ensure that commitments translate into improvements in people’s lives. This is where the ANC must make its case for the future.
Not by asking communities to overlook their frustrations, nor by suggesting that historical achievements excuse present failures. Its responsibility is to earn the confidence of residents through ethical leadership, effective governance, improved service delivery and a renewed commitment to those who have waited too long to experience the benefits of democracy.
The answer to shortcomings must be improvement. The answer to broken trust must be accountability. The answer to communities that feel forgotten must be a renewed determination to ensure that no resident is treated as an afterthought. Residents, too, have a responsibility.
Democracy cannot be reduced to casting a ballot every few years. It requires participation, scrutiny and the willingness to demand better from those entrusted with public responsibility. We must attend community meetings, raise concerns, follow up on commitments and protect public resources. Communities cannot be developed by government alone, but government cannot escape its duty to lead, deliver and account for its performance. When election day arrives, our choices must reflect the seriousness of that responsibility.
A vote is more than an expression of anger or gratitude. It is a decision about the direction in which we wish to travel, an assessment of the record of those who have governed and a statement about the future we believe is possible. The ANC must be prepared to account honestly for its record, acknowledge where it has fallen short and present clear priorities and credible commitments. The trust of the people is neither permanent nor guaranteed. It must be renewed through service.
For those who believe that South Africa’s unfinished democratic project requires renewal rather than abandonment, correction rather than complacency, and renewed determination rather than surrender, the ANC remains a political vehicle through which that work can be pursued. But supporting the ANC must also mean demanding the best of it. It must mean expecting ethical leadership, competent administration, responsible use of public money and a consistent focus on ordinary people.
Loyalty to the ideals of freedom and equality must never require silence in the face of failure. Those very ideals demand that we speak honestly and work tirelessly to bring our institutions closer to the standards our people deserve.
The question is not whether our communities have reached perfection. They have not. Much remains to be achieved. The question is whether we are prepared to learn from our experience, build on genuine progress, correct what has gone wrong and work towards a future where opportunity is not determined by circumstance and dignity is not reserved for a fortunate few.
Our children will not judge us by the eloquence of our speeches. They will judge us by the communities we leave behind: whether they can access quality education, find meaningful work, live in safe neighbourhoods and depend on the basic services that make a dignified life possible. That is the standard against which our politics must ultimately be measured.
Let us be honest about our history, clear-eyed about our challenges and ambitious about what we can still accomplish. Let us recognise the work already done without pretending that the work is finished. Let us demand accountability without surrendering hope, and pursue change without forgetting the democratic ideals that brought us this far.
Our future will not be shaped by history alone. It will be shaped by the decisions we make today, the leaders we hold accountable and the commitments we insist must be honoured tomorrow. Our community deserves leadership that remembers where we come from, understands where we are, and has the courage and capacity to take us where we need to go. The task before us is to make that future real.
And the responsibility to begin belongs to all of us.
Previn Vedan is Durban based lawyer, human rights advocate and grassroots activist.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or post.co.za