One of the patriarch's of black consciousness Steven Bantubonke Biko once said "The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed." I use this quotation as a rationale behind my contestation on the enigmatic socio economic status affecting our brothers and sisters with a specific emphasis or reference to us South Africans. The thought of a black successful business person, entrepreneur or individual tends to be associated with all nocturnal sordid / calamities.

We have been indoctrinated into believing that we can not do any thing without the endorsement of a white person. It's a sure thing as the rising of the sun that you hear many people bestowing kudos to people who have excelled in sports or in any other extra mural activities proclaiming  that "Yho ! UXola ngumlungu" (Xola is a white man).

This simply translates into saying that white people are more erudite than black people. Steve Biko again summarizes this perfectly in saying that "whites must be made to realise that they are only human, not superior. Same with Blacks. They must be made to realise that they are also human, not inferior."

Come on Xola! What is your bone of contention exactly?! Are you playing the race card or are you driving a wedge between black and white people after the reconciliation that has been done in our country? I can imagine you asking all those question in a minute. Wait! Before you guillotine me on assumptions that I'm either racist or I'm trying to illuminate further racial conflagrations that have spread like veld fires in our country!

My argument lies solemly on the need for black people to stand up and be counted in all spheres of life in this country. Pardon me for boring you to death with unending quotes of Steve Biko but this is the last one I make use of: In his book I Write What I like Steve Biko says "It becomes more necessary to see the truth as it is if you realise that the only vehicle for change are these people who have lost their personality. The first step therefore is to make the black man come to himself; to pump back life into his empty shell; to infuse him with pride and dignity, to remind him of his complicity in the crime of allowing himself to be misused and therefore letting evil reign supreme in the country of his birth."

Many black people don't realise or understand the wealth and the riches that Africa has at its disposal unless there is someone who utilizes that particular resource and employs a black supervisor who will report to him. The old (Bantu) education system has taught us that there is no other thing we can do in this country except to go to school, pass your exams and then be a nurse, policemen, lawyer, teacher etc all these were regarded as black professions.

I myself even remember being asked by my primary school teacher (Mrs Nonji Mangcu -affectionately known as uMiss Omkhulu) what I wanted to be when I'm older. I echoed in reply what my parents and my older brothers had said - that they wanted to be teachers, nurses lawyers etc.

However, on the other flip side of the coin black people in this country need to look at further African states who have managed against all odds to produce worldly acclaimed intellectuals, medical gurus, scientists, business people etc. A particular case being Nigeria, where the United States of America continues to poach Nigerian scientists by dangling all types of carrots in front of them i.e. permanent residence, houses, cars etc. I can go on and on till the break of dawn.

The point I'm trying to illustrate here is that black people must stop whining and always blaming the government - that it didn't do that and that. What if we could wake up the following day and find out that there is no government! I guess many people would die within hours such is their trust and hope in the government.

I know for a fact that this statement may sound so arrogant in that one might say is it because Xola you have a secured job that you saying these things and yet you are employed by the state! Oh! No! you got me wrong my friend I'm saying this out of provoking our people to wake up and seek knowledge on how they can change their precarious situations they find themselves in.

We also need to eclipse such mentality and produce a remnant of people that will look into the face of failure and say we refuse to fail because of our lack of backgrounds, lack of education, lack of unemployment and that they are destined for greatness come hell or high water.

How I wish we could have learnt from countries like India, Japan, Chile who have taught their citizens not to depend on government but to wake up and do for themselves. Chile and India continues to be the leading countries in so far as entrepreneurship is concerned. All they do is to simply set up put structures that enable people to be less dependent on government and more entrepreneurial in their lifestyle and thinking.

Take for instance a country like Japan which has no major economic resources i.e. gold and platinum like we do, but still is a major economic power house globally. This may sound so trivial but the fact of the matter is that Japan is the leading producer of technological innovations in the world which they have achieved by creating an enabling entrepreneurial culture.

I had hoped that by now our present government would have turned the tide in addressing the vexatious issue of having a curriculum that does not respond to the demands of the labour market. Instead the government continues to import skills from other countries, which doesn't bode well to the people of this country due to a plethora of reasons.

In a guest column for a particular new paper I argued that statements by the government that it is about to import skills from foreign countries due to scarcity in our country is a difficult pill to swallow for the youth of our country. One is asking despite the graduation ceremonies that occur yearly in our institutions, what happens to those graduates?

Are they graduating to bask in the sun? Something needs to be done urgently to address the vexatious issue of skills shortage. I further contested that this contradicted President Thabo Mbeki's speech at the opening of parliament in 2006 when he said South Africa had entered "an age of hope"

This column serves to ameliorate the status quos of black people of always whining that where is this age of hope that the government has been talking about? Let's stop being a nation of beggars and be a well of life that other nations can make use of.

There is nothing stopping us from realizing the dreams of our forefathers Nkwameh Nkrumah, Mangaliso Sobukwe who espoused black consciousness philosophy which strives to make the black man to take pride is his blackness and stop the thinking that he's inferior to other races.

I like what Dr Martin Luther Kind says when he says "the future belongs to those who prepare for it today". It's high time that we mould our future by utilising the opportunities that are at our disposal now and stop whining over split milk by doing so we'll be Rich Africans! or Poor Africans ! The choice is yours!

Xola Moni is a freelance writer based in East London

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