‘Over the past two decades, we’ve endured a myriad of cataclysmic junctures that have slowly eroded the legitimacy of the state and stripped away any hope the nation had of a "new dawn". These include, the Marikana tragedy, the Life Esidimeni scandal, state capture and the 2021 July unrest. Collectively, these form part of a continuum revealing the array of human rights violations that have persisted in spite of SA’s constitutional democracy.’

The Nelson Mandela Foundation’s Samantha Mashapa adds what unfolded after the 1994 elections was ‘restrained and sluggish’ efforts in rectifying the racial and systemic injustices of the past.

‘As a result, democratic SA began taking shape with the large majority of people confined to the periphery of that democracy, which served to entrench indignity and inter-generational poverty among the masses.’

In her opinion piece on the Mail & Guardian Online site, Mashapa says we still find ourselves with a ravaged health sector, unerringly up in flames, a state that allows for homelessness to be criminalised, and once again a head of state accused of criminality and lawlessness.

‘Surely referring to SA as a free and equal state when the fundamental human rights of its people are repeatedly infringed is delusional and deceptive? The state is no longer deemed legitimate by some, and with reason. It is thus clear that we need to bridge the gap between principles stipulated in the Constitution and the pain we are subjected to in our everyday lives.’

Mashapa says we are all witnessing the democratic state’s requiem and maybe we just need a moment to pick up the pieces before we start working toward yet another ‘new dawn’.

‘Principles that have underpinned our ideals of freedom and democracy have now become evanescent. We’ve witnessed the republic’s rapture far too many times to keep placing our hope in the ghosts of our late freedom fighters. The current state of affairs compels us to anchor our belief in concepts that will supersede us all.’

While accepting that concepts such as the rule of law and constitutionalism sound noble, she says we would be remiss in acknowledging the rife socio-political and economic injustices that have prospered within this post-apartheid social compact.

‘When will we learn that failed states are not simply resuscitated by erecting R22m flagpoles or renaming airports? They are restored by materialising our laws and policies in the lives of all South Africans, especially those that have been long forgotten and discarded by the constitutional democracy.’

Full analysis on the Mail & Guardian Online site