The historian Prof. Hermann Giliomee said there are times when you cannot merely assume that we will always have the poor with us, but that you need to stop and observe what poverty looks like. He believes that at times people might be so caught up in poverty that they simply cannot get out of it. This was his remark regarding the great poverty of the Afrikaner and the accompanying Economic Conference of 1939.
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The image of poverty in South Africa
In an effort to stop and observe poverty in South Africa, refer to the first graphic representation. At the foot of a very high cliff stands a crowd looking up to a smaller group looking down on them. The crowd at the bottom typically represents the economic reality of the mass of South Africans. Our economy has left the majority of South Africans behind. They bundle together at the bottom. The big question is, how are they going to make it to the top? What are they going to do? The group on top looks down at those below with an overwhelming sense of hopelessness; there is too many down below, too little up here, and the cliff is too high. In silence they are grateful that they are on top, but at the same time full of guilt over their gratitude.
South Africa is economically a very unequal society.
(This is a historical but also an emerging inequality. The inequality among black Africans themselves is greater than within any other minority group and “this is now the major contributing cause for South Africa’s current inequality,” as per SACP).
The division between the “top” and “bottom” is not only a huge, ever increasing economic disparity, but it also has to do with an extremely complex relationship. A relationship that is charged with factors that are political, historical, social and racial in nature, and includes years of large-scale fraud and mismanagement.
In line with Giliomee’s remark, the crowds at the bottom of the cliff are the ones we want to consider in an effort to understand poverty. In South Africa, approximately 55.2% of young people are unemployed. Sixty percent of children in South African grow up without a father. Many children grow up among unemployed adults, with no role model for the day when they themselves have to work. They do not understand work ethic. The only monthly income for a large percentage of the people at the foot of the cliff, is the child grants they receive from the state. The man from the Eastern Cape says there are more children every year and with that more pressure is put on his “black tax”. South Africa’s education system completely fails our children and they never learn the skills needed to successfully enter the economy.
When we look at the image of poverty, we know it can not, and should not, continue like this. We know it’s not scare tactics, but a time bomb, a situation of great human grief and humiliation. As believers, we also know that when the Lord makes us aware of something He wants us to do, then it is timely. We also know that what is impossible for us, in His name, is possible. After all, our Book is full of impossibilities: a path at the bottom of the sea, bread that He multiplies to satisfy a multitude.
This is a follow-up article that attempts to provide practical guidelines that the first “Says Who?” article did not touch on. The first article gives the context within which this one should be understood.
The premises that serve as a foundation and context are:
1. That several researchers have found that economic growth and entrepreneurial awakening are the unplanned “by-product” of a personal encounter and relationship with Christ. It is an unplanned consequence, a fruit that needs to be discerned and utilised.
2. Secondly, the Christian network, despite all its faults, is the largest and fastest growing commonality in South Africa. A network that spans across race, economic-, social- and educational -levels, an incredible resource to capitalise on.
With a hypothesis that these two premises may lead to unexpected and unprecedented economic outcomes, we ask the following questions:
What could a poverty alleviation plan look like?
Each new year is just a little better than the previous year.
(We don’t even know what this feels like anymore.)
This is a zigzag road with a moderate slope, where groups of people progress at different rates or speed. The important element is that each group can see a different group that has already progressed a little further, and that brings motivation and clear direction on how to progress. This approach breaks down an impossible situation into more achievable challenges. It ensures small wins and therefore promotes momentum and hope. A lack of hope discourages action.
Economically, we need to create an upward movement for our people, even if it is initially small. We just have to be relentless and push forward in hope.
It may be wise to look at the Christian network and start there with a plan that is somewhat similar to the 1939 “self-help” campaign of the Afrikaner. Start with the spiritual leader of 80 to 100 believers. Such an approach may sound over-optimistic especially in the light of spiritual leaders who, in pursuit of personal gain, offer instant solutions to poor people. This may be a symptom of the grave situation people find themselves in – poor people desperately grasping at straws without critical discernment. This opens the door for exploitation. The challenge is to start with the virtuous ones and later engage the rest of the spiritual leaders in a sustainable future strategy.
Is a large-scale spiritual awakening possible?
In the context of our current argument, the key to our success may be a national revival, or said differently, a large-scale spiritual awakening. Such a spiritual awakening is not new to our country. In 1860, there was a revival in the Cape Colony which commenced on the day of Pentecost in the parish of Rev. Andrew Murray (junior).
The historian, prof. Herman Giliomee writes that as part of Britain’s Anglicisation policy, English-speaking Scottish ministers were brought to the Cape and among them were the Murray family. This was done as the government of the day viewed the use of Afrikaans in worship services, for prayers or even for personal devotion, as unworthy.
Andrew Murray senior was reverend of the Graaff-Reinet church for many years and had an unquenchable hunger for a spiritual revival. The writer J. du Plessis writes that Murray prayed for revival in South Africa every Friday, for 36 years. He prayed that God’s almighty presence will be revealed in a desperate country, with desperate challenges.
His son, Andrew Murray junior, also became a reverend. But because he was too young, he could not initially be assigned to a congregation. He was sent to look after the spiritual welfare of the Afrikaans-speaking Trekboers. On this mission field, Andrew Murray was compelled to learn Afrikaans – the “kitchen language” which was considered unworthy of religious practice, even though it was the only communication medium for the majority of Afrikaners. Later he was appointed to the congregation of Worcester.
On Pentecost Sunday 1860, a spiritual revival began in the Worcester parish of Andrew Murray junior. According to reports, the events were characterised by a spontaneous and general desire to sincerely seek God’s face and plead for forgiveness of sin. An insatiable thirst for God. De Wekker newspaper noted that the entire society was changed, literally turned upside down.
Prof. N.J. Hofmeyr described the social impact of the revival as nothing short of revolutionary. In a short space of time towns and communities had undergone a remarkable transformation. The revival was also not confined to one segment of the community, but exceeded boundaries of race, gender and age. Overnight, young people became disciplined workers who dedicated themselves to improving their community and intervening for their fellow man, Hofmeyr said.
Today, on my doorstep, in the Wilderness Heights informal settlement, a young boy says that he loves the Lord very much and only wants to do the Lord’s will. He thinks the Lord wants him to do well at school and therefore his schoolwork comes first.
According to Du Plessis, a remarkable feature of the revival was that it was not limited to towns only. There was powerful spiritual awakening on remote farms where men and women were in the presence of God for days on end. The author Vance Christie believes that the revival originally began on the farm of David Naude. David’s son Jan, his niece Miss. van Blerk and a farm worker Saul Pieterse, prayed for months for a spiritual awakening, that in the fullness of time came about.
This is an important and empowering insight, especially in light of the desperate groan of the man on the radio talk program about South Africa’s corruption, namely “I can’t take it anymore, I just can’t take it anymore!”
We, the desperate ones, are not helpless. We have the opportunity to pray faithfully for a revival. No one has to agree with us. No one needs to heed us. We can continue inexorably in our conviction and desperation. I know there will be an uproar, that one should “stop praying and start doing”. To this I say, we must and will act, but there are times when one is unswervingly longing for divine intervention.
According to Dr. Peter Hammond a consequence of the 1860 revival was that the Afrikaans language was eventually recognised as an official language of South Africa because it became the language of the pulpit. In a similar fashion, prof. J.C. Steyn note: “The pursuit of an Afrikaans translation of the Bible led to the first organised language movement.”
One may wonder if this was an Anglicisation policy that seriously backfired?
The revival in the Cape Colony at the time of the Murrays had tipping point events that served as a trigger. Often, tipping point events are of a social, economic, constitutional and political nature, and we have an abundance of these currently in South Africa.
A further consequence of this revival, as well as the Pentecostal revival of the early 1900s, is that South Africa has a Christian network as a common denominator across our diverse society. At the International Conference on Responsible Leadership, held at the University of Stellenbosch in 2012, international business schools, academics and corporate organisations gathered to reflect on the fundamental shifts the world needs to make towards sustainable leadership. During these workshops, we (ATS) proposed that South Africa could benefit from equipping the Christian network in order to produce a new generation of responsible leaders. Our interlocutors from around the world, some who admit that they themselves have never seen the inside of a church or know of anyone who goes to church, were amazed at the huge resource that lies interwoven through the diverse population of South Africa.
That this Christian network has shortcomings is a fact – we know this, because we have made it our business to know them. The accusation that the Christian network in Africa is a mile wide but only an inch deep, is in certain instances regrettably true.
A final note about the potential of the Christian network: the Institute for Race Relations (IRR) advise that the moderate majority of South Africa need to unite against destructive political pressures. Their research found that despite deliberate racial incitement, the majority of South Africans have moderate opinions and agree on what needs to be done to solve the country’s problems. It is this moderate majority that the IRR believes should resist the government’s lust for overall control and power. They believe that political alliances are well aware of the danger it poses should the moderate majority come together in SA. This is why it seems as if some political parties are deliberately inciting racial tension.
What can be the focal points of a poverty alleviation plan?
We have already looked at the effects of a spiritual awakening in early South African history. With this in mind and the context of our current poverty, as well as what the Afrikaner previously did to get out of deep poverty (which has not been fully discussed here), we already have a few pointers to work with.
- We can start with a plan that will primarily be a self-help campaign for each spiritual leader and group, but we should not leave any group to its own devices. We need to stay involved through collaboration, support and motivation, because too much is at stake. A self-help campaign is also an active alternative to an ideology of a state supposedly caring for people and promising them a utopia in exchange for the termination of personal rights and responsibilities. The IRR believes that corruption and racial tensions are causing us to lose sight of the fact that a larger plan is unfolding in South Africa, namely a deliberate push towards a communist system.
- Groups need to be empowered to uncover and support entrepreneurs, because on your own it is very difficult to be successful as an entrepreneur. However, when a group talks, prays, dreams and plans together, it can greatly contribute to the entrepreneur’s success. Talking together can also help to unlock resources, knowledge and collaboration opportunities, and provide motivation and discipline. Entrepreneurs are a building block for a free market system and personal freedom.
- We need to develop a national work culture that is conducive to personal responsibility and economic growth. Political journalist Jan-Jan Joubert mentions that the mainstream unions in South Africa aim to provide as little as possible, for as much as possible, and that they are not inline with international unions that also include productivity in their negotiations.
- Skills deficiencies in own ranks must be identified and joint solutions need to be found for these shortfalls.
- The family structures must be strengthened and supported. Andrew Murray wrote in a letter to his wife in March 1860 that he was seized by the verse “Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.” He was of the opinion that if we understand it correctly, it could have major consequences. Can it be that the child grant has subconsciously eroded our perception of children?
- The groups should also be empowered to think critically about how to make up for education shortages. The Afrikaner’s economic empowerment of 1939 relied heavily on the philosophy of liberation through education. Emeritus Professor J.L. Sadie mentions that in the Afrikaner’s urgency for education, they sometimes made the mistake of focusing more on “soft” academic options, such as a general BA degree while mathematics and natural sciences, were preferably avoided. He further believes that the Afrikaner was also biased against technical and vocational training. Yet in spite of these shortcomings, he argues that this pursuit of the Afrikaner for education had economically benefited them.
Our current education orientation was influenced by the 1976 uprising slogan, “liberation before education”. If the quality of education in our country is taken into account, this slogan may still be undermining our education. According to former Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas, South Africa’s biggest embarrassment is its education and statistics show it continues to deteriorate.
- Solutions must be put into place to help pre-schoolers’ development to successful entering the school. Current learners should be supported with structures and facilities that provide learn and study assistance. Many children do not even have a desk to study by or someone who can help them with difficult homework.
The poverty alleviation plan can be summarised in the graphic representation of a hand. The palm of the hand represents large-scale spiritual awakening, characterised by a personal encounter and relationship with the risen Christ. The fingers represent issues flowing from the palm and which we must augment and strengthen.
This article was an attempt to reflect on a strategy that stands on its own alongside a multitude of strategies, each with its own focus.
The author Anoeschka von Meck notes that during her travels and research for the book “Net voor die droogte my breek”, she had often heard how farmers testify that the drought has changed them, made them to become better people, and especially led to a deeper relationship with God. “We parted with our own plans. Our expectation and hope are now solely on God.”
What if this is the first green sprouts of a large-scale spiritual awakening? May the Lord send the latter rain to South Africa. “Slawereën” (slave rain); rain that fell out of season the day everyone feared large-scale retaliation from the newly released slaves, but instead the churches were overflowing with liberated people thanking God.
Dr Rene Hattingh-Rust is lecturer at Aucklandpark Theological Seminary and co-founder of Kotive – a technology company.
She has created a online course called “Entrepreneurial Awakening” to mobilise church groups as an answer to poverty in South Africa.
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