Times Of Swaziland: IS NATION GOING TO SURVIVE IF WE CONTINUE BEING INDIVIDUALISTIC?

IS NATION GOING TO SURVIVE IF WE CONTINUE BEING INDIVIDUALISTIC?
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Emmanuel Ndlangamandla on 22/04/2024 07:59:00


I would like to think aloud about the dangers of individualism.
I discussed this issue with some people at the gym recently. We observed that
emaSwati have become too individualistic, which is eroding a sense of community
and how this especially undermines solidarity. EmaSwati, like many Africans, are
grounded on the value of Ubuntu, which basically means ‘you are because I
am’. The cultural practices of lilima, where community members support one of
their own, was a common practice back in the day. But nowadays, the reality is
that this practice has been on the decline, which I attribute to the
individualism phenomenon. The other important social practice is when someone
shout ‘inyandzaleyo’, which is a call for help when one’s life is in
danger. Regrettably, when one shouts for help, the tendency is to lock oneself
in the house for personal safety and avoid being a witness in a court of law.
What is individualism?
Being more focused on individualism is having a concrete set of beliefs about
yourself. You know what you want and what you don’t. Because of this, you get
to do things that you love without worrying about what others may think, that
frees us from too much emotional attachment in our surroundings. What is,
however, worrying in this individualism phenomenon is that nothing else around
us matters. We lose our capacity to be better members of the community as we
behave as if we do not belong to it. Individualism gives us freedom to be
unique, which sometimes disallows us to communicate with each other and builds
barriers between members of the community. Yes, we have the freedom to be our
own version of ourselves, but along with freedom is our responsibility as
members of our communities. As we search for meaning, which is embedded in our
individual self, we must look beyond ourselves, connect with people and
contribute something to the community. That’s how our life will be meaningful.
Forget
Too much individualism develops to self-centredness. We forget others, we forget
that we are a community and that we are a nation. We get trapped in a place
where we only see and think about ourselves. The reality is that we live in a
family, community and a country faced with challenges such as poverty,
discrimination, inequality, unemployment, human rights violations and hunger, to
mention a few. To maintain a peaceful community is to be mindful about our
issues as well as of those around us. We are not living in this world to be
alone; we are social animals after all. It’s not always finding what’s best
for you, but you can be more than that. You can have a bigger role in the
community by allowing yourself to sacrifice a little of your comfort by giving
it to someone who badly needs it. Inglehart finds it alarming that individualism
also makes people withdraw from social and political engagements and it weakens
the community’s spirit.
How is indivualism manifesting itself in our beautiful kingdom, where we boast
that we are one nation, one culture and with one language? I will argue that
this individualism approach has been promoted through the country’s political
evolution. It is more clear in Section 79 of the Constitution, which states;
“The system of government for Swaziland (Eswatini) is a democratic,
participatory, Tinkhundla-based system, which emphasises the devolution of State
power from central government to Tinkhundla areas and individual merit as a
basis for election or appointment to public office.”
I recall that during past vuselas, where the authorities sought to determine the
views of the nation on governance issues, it was emphasised that emaSwati were
to present their views as individuals. As a result, some of the commissioners
were forced to withdraw because they were appointed on an individual basis.
Politicians are elected on the individual basis in our country, which has made
it difficult for these individuals to put pressure to bear on government to
address people’s centred issues, as the Executive is dominated by unelected
politicians.
Tindvuna tetinkhundla recently elected a committee that sought to engage on
their welfare issues and the minister stated that the Ministry of Tinkhundla
does not recognise that committee.
I posit that the greatest weakness of the Tinkhundla system is electing
individuals who, as soon as they are elected, become isolated from electorates
as well as the governmental they were elected to represent people.  As
government struggles to provide services, community solidarity is key for
survival. You find communities waiting for government, even on things they can
fix,  such as such  roads and water infrastructure, to mention a few. Those who
are endowed with money hardly donate to Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and
charity causes because they don’t share the pain of the poor. This
individualism approach benefits the government and the losers are communities.
Divided we fall!