Taking responsibility for one’s life is the first step towards burying the legacy of apartheid and a first step towards a productive South Africa. Black South Africans seem to have fallen into a dangerous trap of expecting handouts from both Government and previous beneficiaries of apartheid.

This is dangerous because it creates a class of people who are apathetic to education and hard work. They become dependent on the state for almost all their livelihood. This class of people is also easily influenced and confused by the ruling class for their own purposes. It also creates a class that is easily abused easily at the labour market by capitalist interests.

It is a shame that 17 years after the advent of democracy we still have such a high number of people dependent on state grants. We still have people moarning at not getting a free house, free water, free electricity and yet they are not contributing anything towards the tax base. While one has to emphasize the need for stop gap measures that government had to implement to assist people in dire need with grants, housing etc. This can not be a permanent solution and it is not sustainable.

People should take advantage of these measures while they are working towards being self sustainable and productive citizens that contribute towards the country’s economy and the fiscus. We need to realize that government has it’s responsibilities and we the citizens have our own role to play in the betterment of our own circumstances.

There is currently an outcry over the slow pace of economic transformation and land reform but how many black people have taken the trouble of educating and skilled themselves enough to take advantage of such opportunities when they become available. It would be counterproductive if the transformation pace were to pick up only to find that black people are not skilled enough to manage such ventures. This would disrupt the economy and run the country to the ground. This, unfortunately, also give the White Inc an excuse not to transform.

Apartheid left a huge gap between race groups and yes, this gap need to be closed but it can’t be closed by handouts. Everyone, especially black people need to work hard to make sure that when opportunities are given to them towards closing this gap, they can take full advantage and make such opportunities a success.

There so many things that black people can do in taking responsibility for our own emancipation and reversal of the apartheid legacy. An example is singer Simphiwe Dana who has taken to using social media platform, Twitter to conscientise, influence, encourage and stimulate debate. This is an example of a responsible citizen using the influence she has because of her music to encourage South Africans to take political responsibility.

Black people should be in charge of their own political and economic destiny. The last 17 years has shown that we can not just rely on the government or on the White Inc to do what is right. We need to hold them accountable through our vote.