The sun embraces me with her warmth as I sit comfortably to pen some thoughts down.

The year 2024 has been an interesting one. The beginning of this year shook me because of something unexpected that happened to me. When the time is right, I will share what happened to me. I am only sharing this context because those close to me know it is a miracle that I can still sit down, think, and return to my love of writing. 

But the message I wish to convey here is not about me; it’s about South Africa and all who call her mother or home.

It comes as no surprise to most people that our transition to democracy has not been an easy one. 29th May 2024 is a historic day. I think of those voting for the first time, I think of those voting for the second or third time, like myself. However, perhaps the most significant stakeholder group I think about is those who will be voting for the 7th time since 1994, when South Africa became a democratic state. Over the last couple of years, news outlets have shared with us that, as a country, we have been plagued with an epidemic of corruption from our leadership. 

Social media has been abuzz as South Africans prepare themselves mentally for what has been anticipated as one of the most important elections of our time. The load-shedding crisis has led to businesses closing down, people losing their jobs, and fear of a possible economic collapse. Almost every conversation I partake in touches on the state of the nation.

One might be surprised to learn why I am using this Pen The Vision platform to discuss politics. I shared this message in February 2023, but last week, I felt a strong urge to reshare it as we prepare for election day on 29 May 2024.

The idea of the headline image and the word Utopia (i.e., a place of ideal perfection, especially in laws, government, and social conditions) came to me sometime last year. I am no political analyst, and there is still so much I don’t know about politics, but I often try to write from the pureness of who I am. The truth is, at my core, I care about our nation. If I trace all the patterns of my life and some of my body of work, like my book, Thinking in Full Colour, I find myself constantly called to share my heart and my voice about socio-political issues. What is politics? In sharing a purpose-lens perspective on politics in our country, I want to call upon the words of the former president of the United States of America, Barack Obama, who said, “A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things”. Purpose, like politics, is an everyday event of ordinary people committing themselves to extraordinary actions that transform society. Politics and Purpose are significantly linked. Often, if the political climate of a country is tumultuous, living out one’s Purpose can be very difficult. As a purpose evangelist, I believe that for the average person (and please underline the word average because that’s the category most of us fall into, lol 🙂 sorry to say it like this, but it is what it is), our political climate must be conducive for us to live out our Purpose.

So, here’s the message – South Africa is an exceptional nation. I know it looks bleak right now, and things are bad for millions of South Africans. And that may be factual, but we must not dream about the nation in our current situation. We must tap into dreaming about it from a place of new possibilities. There was a time in our nation’s history, during Apartheid, when people were going through a tough time, and many thought they would never see the dawn of democracy. But some continued to believe and hope, setting the light for a new birth. Yes, in inception as a public, we thought 1994 would solve all our problems. 

Still, over the years, we have realised that democracy is fragile and achieving democracy is an ongoing journey. We have also learned about the multifaceted application of democracy and how we may have reached the first leg of it, and now maybe the focus needs to be on the second part of it, which is why we need to keep our hope alive. And I am asking fellow South Africans, I know it’s a big ask, but to those who can, please keep believing, keep holding onto the light that South Africa will arrive at Utopia one day. There is a collective Utopia, which is often shared as a land of peace, a land where all people are free, a land of equality and thriving. Utopia Street is a philosophy of keeping hope alive. I don’t know what it will take to transform our country, but we need new ways of thinking and being to help us change. We have examples in history of nations that have built from zero. Some nations have built from a place of despair but are amongst the leading countries today, so it is possible. It looked bleak even for them, but I believe some carried the torch of hope, leading to innovative ideas regenerating those nations. What needs to shift in us as South Africans? What if we shifted from a state of complaining to a state of a renewed SA “being-ness”? What do we ALL need to be and become to see a shift in our nation? Hope is not a feeling but a decision.

WE WILL HEAL. WE WILL REBUILD. OUR ECONOMY WILL FLOURISH. OUR PEOPLE WILL EXPERIENCE TRUE FREEDOM. OUR DEMOCRACY WILL BE REVIVED.

Pack your bags, and let’s prepare for the journey to Utopia. Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. May God Bless South Africa and her people.