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by Makhudu Sefara · TimesLIVEClick on the image to access the e-edition.
Dear readers,
“Patient because history is on their side, these masses do not despair because today the weather is bad. Nor do they turn triumphalist when, tomorrow, the sun shines. Whatever the circumstances they have lived through and because of that experience, they are determined to define for themselves who they are and who they should be.”
These words, by then deputy president Thabo Mbeki, were spoken in 1996 as the country's constitution was adopted. They were spoken when the masses he refers to were still patient — and hopeful. The wrath of disappointed masses is being felt across the globe. But a quick detour first.
Mbeki was right about the need for us to define for ourselves who we are and who we should be. To know thyself is, of course, Immanuel Kant’s ethical injunction for us to understand who we are, what our motivations are and our duty to self and nation in relation to the will that lives deep in us all.
When we say let us all fight corruption, as Lawson Naidoo and Sarah Meny-Gibert admonish us on page 18, or let us not sleep on the opportunity that is our chairing of the G20, as Prof Siphamandla Zondi asks of us on page 12, do we fully understand from whence this comes?
When Duma Gqubule quotes everyone there is to quote before making his point about artisanal mining and our duty to those trying to escape poverty by risking their lives deep in the belly of the earth, do we know his and our motivations as we should? Have we defined for ourselves who we are and who we should be? We know too well that if we leave it to others, they will call ours a dark continent. They will term our march towards civilisation incomplete.
Yet we know our story is clothed in many layers. It is a story of grinding poverty on the one hand and major, eye-popping success for individuals and companies on the other. It’s a story of corruption just as it’s also a story of hardworking civil servants who put in long hours to ensure that we can trust the water out of the taps in our homes (except in Hammanskraal); or that bridges washed away by floods are rebuilt expeditiously; or that those who have waited for social housing get a roof over their heads. In this way — in the refreshed Sunday Times from today — we define for ourselves who we are and who we should be. Some say to be is to be perceived. As the world is in a state of flux, as the media ecosystem keeps evolving, we intend to tell the South African story in its fullest.
Its beauty and gut-wrenching pains. Its triumphs and heartbreaking losses. To do so is to keep our end of the bargain as true patriots, committed fully to the ideals contained in our constitution. Ours is a commitment to ideals and not people, for while the latter are transient, ideals are our gifts to future generations. Ideals such as democracy, accountability, transparency, justice, fairness and equality must outlive us.
As we modernise the Sunday Times from today, we do so fully aware of the national treasure it is, to quote one of our nation’s finest, Sim Tshabalala, who this week was honoured as the best business leader of the year at the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies awards in Johannesburg. Reuel Khoza, that doyen of South African business, was honoured with a lifetime achievement award for being the embodiment of excellent, courageous and ethical leadership. These honours are in keeping with the long-held tradition of celebrating what is good about our country.
We also give the Sunday Times a brand refresh, understanding our duty to future generations who must benefit not only from the content the brand has to offer them but from what it will contribute to the curation of a future in which they must live meaningful and fulling lives. We elected to make changes that are elegant and tasteful, but to effect them incrementally.
Failure is not an option, for we know the wrath of formerly patient people who are today teaching politicians, through votes, to listen. We have a duty to listen, to apply our minds fully and, importantly, to take action that helps grow our brand as it helps entrench good and positive ideals in our society. We are open to hearing from you, dear reader, on what you make of the changes effected to your favourite Sunday newspaper.
Do keep in touch with us on Sefaram@sundaytimes.co.za.