IS NATION GOING TO SURVIVE IF WE CONTINUE BEING INDIVIDUALISTIC?

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! 

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