Son of the soil

Zulu Masithela

By: Zulu Masithela

Bana ba mobu (son of the soil)

I’ve been walking around recently assessing how our people, especially the younger generation, are
surviving the current difficulties of life. It’s shocking to see the reactive mode they are in; there is a
variety of options they can use to turn around the condition they find themselves grappling with in
Hoepakraantz village.
Our beloved country has a youthful population, but the decisions taken about their lives are made
by a few selfish individuals. In a nutshell, the so-called politicians are the perpetrators of the
difficulties of our people. You find that if there is a project with the potential to bring jobs to our
innocent youth, politicians take charge and influence how things should be done, and that is why we
sometimes see corruption raise its ugly head.
You even see them manipulating Community Work Program (CWP) jobs, and it’s so frustrating. And
remember, there’s this notion of Bana ba mobu (son of the soil), meaning they prioritise jobs as a
birthright in the community. I think it is the elephant in the room, which I think no one would love to
be engaged in, especially the beneficiaries of this thing. You ask yourself if there are children of the
soil, then are there any children of the trees? In the process, the majority of people remain
unemployed, and those who benefit don’t take good care of the job opportunity.
Our people have normalized crime and corruption and allowed themselves to be divided and led by
narrow-minded individuals who only care about themselves. It is just an ultimate injustice and a self-
inflicted everlasting pain that will keep tormenting even more generations to come. I pray and hope
that our people can wake up as soon as possible so that we heal and free our communities from the
chaos and chains of poverty, reshape the future, and leave a good foundation of inheritance for our
children.