South Africa’s current conditions of misunderstanding and intolerance of difference, of leadership disconnection with the people and of business misalignment with holistic human development are screaming for something fresh. The manner in which we relate to each other as people sharing the same space (in all its manifestations!) is unsustainable and demands change. Here’s an old solution that has been with us for a long time, but has been neglected for way too long. The ancient Afrikan philosophy of ubuntu is the quiet antidote needed right now.
But what is this thing we call ubuntu? A quick explanation of this term would be this: ubuntu means each one of us can only effectively exist as fully functioning human beings when we acknowledge the roles that others play in our lives. Most Nguni languages in Southern Africa will say: “umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu [a person is a person through other persons, or I am because we are]“. It is about accepting our inherent interconnectedness. This is the one missing piece of our current socio-political, leadership and business puzzle. At a glance, ubuntu seems idealistic. Yet, when understood, it is the foundation for social coherence. It engenders self-respect, whose current lack among individuals across all communities (rich and poor) breeds the levels of violence we experience.
Another crash course on ubuntu is given by our beloved Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who says: “Africans have a thing called ubuntu; it is about the essence of being human, it is part of the gift that Africa is going to give to the world. It embraces hospitality, caring about others, being willing to go that extra mile for the sake of another. We believe that a person is a person through other persons; that my humanity is caught up and bound up in yours. When I dehumanise you, I inexorably dehumanise myself. The solitary human being is a contradiction in terms, and therefore you seek to work for the common good because your humanity comes into its own in community, in belonging.”
In this regard, Steve Biko’s words are spot-on: “What the world can learn from Africa is the focus on humanness and spirituality, to complement [and possibly replace] industrial and Western individualism [which goes with avarice and greed].” In traditional Afrikan society there has always been respect for all humans, for the community and for the environment. Of course our historical records have unfortunately been skewed towards focusing mainly on the rather bleak and backwards aspects of Afrikan belief systems, customs, values and culture. That has run its course and served the interests of the past historians. It is time for a shift towards something holistic, wholesome and all-inclusive in the true Afrikan spirit of respect for all.
Afrikan belief-systems can be infused in any place, from the family to the organisation or workplace. The emphasis on togetherness and teamwork is not coincidental. It is by design. In South Africa, we will wake up to the critical importance of this perspective a little later than others who have “seen the light” of ubuntu. Highly successful global businesses (such as Richard Branson’s Virgin Group) use the business approaches inspired by the spirit of ubuntu. Similar forms of humane organisation characterise businesses in Japan.
Ubuntu philosophy is powerfully relevant in business, as Nelson Mandela explains: “Ubuntu in business can help bridge gaps between people in the workplace, stakeholders within and outside the enterprise, [between] businesses and the broader society in which they operate. As a uniquely African moral philosophy, ubuntu belongs in business life on this continent, just as it does in our political and social lives. Ubuntu promotes cohabitation: the tolerance and acceptance of all races and creeds in the human household … Ubuntu reminds people in the household [and in organisations] that they are all part of the greater human family and that all depend on each other. It promotes peace and understanding.” (in foreword to Let Africa Lead by Reuel Khoza).
Ubuntu (humaneness) strengthens a business or political organisation. It builds trust among internal and external stakeholders. This would be magic for local government leaders struggling to meet service-delivery expectations. I believe that with an ubuntu approach guiding their community engagements, leaders in the municipalities that were rioting for better service delivery would not have had to face those challenges at all.
Every good business school today will tell you that successful leadership is increasingly more about building and managing working relationships than about wielding power and authority. Managing relationships well requires specialised skills and the ability really to engage others, to communicate with them in a manner that ensures they are not patronised. Ubuntu facilitates this directly. You cannot be a bully, be patronising, or be authoritarian if you lead with Ubuntu Intelligence©. (Watch this space for a synopsis and description of this concept … similar to Emotional Intelligence, but with a distinct Afrikan feel to it!)
And finally, I believe that business and political leaders who lead with Ubuntu Intelligence know that they shape the emotional tone and climate of their organisations. This happens whether it is intentional, conscious or not. They are therefore smart about using these “powers” they have been given by their followers. Such leaders know that a leader’s behaviour is crucial to any organisation’s achievement of its objectives. Today’s business and social environment demand a new calibre of leadership that relates to their people differently, with feeling. This is a leadership that is in touch with themselves, with their own emotions, and is authentic about who it is. It is a leadership with ubuntu intelligence.
Having spread festive goodwill just recently, is it not opportune to start spreading the spirit of ubuntu as we venture into a potentially exciting 2008? I think that we should all challenge ourselves to see others for who they are, not what we wish they were. That’s the first test of our ability to live with the ubuntu spirit. Go ahead, try it. The next person you meet after reading this, make sure you see them as they are, not as you would rather have them be … not as easy as it sounds, nê?
This is a thought-provoking article, and the ubuntu philosophy is worth pursuing. In my opinion the best way to explain it to those with a European upbringing is the “I think therefore I am” vs “You are there I am” model. Unfortunately the reality is that our families and society have been systematically ruptured over many years. How we keep the traditional whilst embracing the new is the challenge we face in this country, it can only be implemented by highlighting our commonalities (what draws us together) rather than that which moves us apart.
Once again, within a globalised neoliberal world we have commercialized realities which sustained African communities in particular throughpout the ages. Ubuntu was never intended to be a trademark, a commodity yet we have allowed it to be come as such. We should not allow that ubuntu simply becomes a branding tool which could sell almost everything. Unfortunately it sometimes feel(seem) that especially African (Continental) leaders do not display the sensitivity about this distinct existential african reality. You can not speak about ubuntu if you do not expose the lack of collective, read community power, or power from below. Let it be known that african communities sustained itself not because of the friendliness of the market or the economic exercise but because of the lived reality of ubuntu. I agree more need to be said about ubuntu intelligence. Just a word of caution, let ubuntu intelligence not become another buzz word such as IE because we have for too long allowed western speak to permeate the african discourse within the context of prosperity build on alienation. Let us recognize the alienation for what it is – the subtle eroding of what is existentially and truly an african set of values.
Ever since attending a series of workshops on ubuntu in 1998 in both KZN and E Cape, having ploughed through Khoza’s book (a convoluted, repetitive and labyrinthine mangle of wordage, I regret) and having scoured the Net for other writings, the myth of ubuntu has fascinated me. Now your prolix attempt at explanation has left me even less enlightened.
I have looked to find ubuntu in action and come up empty-handed. From Kosi Bay to Port Nolloth. What you describe does not exist in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique, Botswana, Sudan or Egypt (the only other African countries I’ve visited). By the way, why spell our continent’s name so oddly? It adds no value and hardly endears you to other AfriCans or the rest of the world for that matter.
Finally, there are three BIG problems I have with ubuntu (as you explain it) and similar anachronistic medieval myths – 1. Unless it can be physically demonstrated as a cultural ethos (note the word), it has the same value as the tokoloshe. 2. I have repeatedly been told ubuntu holds the showing of remorse as adequate reason for absolution. This means Hitler need just say and look really sorry and ubuntu says it’s all okay? 3. To accept liars, cheats, tyrants, murderers, paedophiles, charlatans, rapists, frauds as they are and not as I would prefer them to be is plain bullshit, Dumisani.
When I have been metaphorically slapped, I have tried to turn the other cheek, which is what ubuntu sounds like, so the person who claimed to believe in ubuntu shot me in the head … metaphorically. I look forward to your next blog (hopefully a little less circumlocutory) and some concrete examples of ubuntu in action as a power for good and not an alibi for the seven deadly sins. KYSSYG
Mr Magadlela, just a couple of questions:
1) why are you writing “Afrikan” and not “African”? Which convetion are you using and why? Or do you, by “Afrikan” mean something different from “African”?
2) Do you live your life according to the “ancient philosophy of ubuntu”? What are you doing in practising this philosophy?
3) Why has the “ancient philosophy of ubuntu” given way to the present one of crime, violence, and corruption?
4) Is ubuntu philosophy in agreement with capitalism?
Thanks.
NP
Holy smoke, what utter gobbledegook, Bua.
For all the light you have shone on this important debate, you may as well have been writing in your mother tongue. The whole notion of debate is to be understood (look it up in a dictionary, they’re actually quite useful things)not to try to sound cleva. Or even pseudo-cleva. It just makes those of us who are seriously trying to find meaning switch off ’cause we can find more value in looping reruns of Telly Tubbies!
Simplify, my child, simplify! It might be a Western thing, but at least it has value beyond the purely fantastical dimension of obsolete myth.
KYSSYG
This article hits on what we should strive for. Government is forgetting the people who gave it power and focusing on the Western ideal of wealth and power — as if these can ever create development of people (to quote Nyerere) — No one could have survived without care of some kind as a baby (to quote the current Dalai Lama) so we should strive to interact in a manner that is constructive. Ghandi said to “be the change you want to see”. Africa has a dark and disturbed history where unfeeling powers placed pressure on its people. They in turn became unfeeling about others. I ask, as always, where is the massive developments for the voters in the New South Africa that the apartheid government dealt out to its few voters? Are there not enough government funds? How can that be in our mineral rich and wealthy country? Why is there such an apathy to people in dire straits? A few new faces does nothing to change the tin houses to brick and the bare rooms to ones littered with books and love. We need to all be responsible for the history that we recieved but we must work hard to ensure that we do not continue to make the same mistakes that were perpetrated in the past. Apathy is as damaging as hatred.
As noble as ubuntu might be there is a vast gulf as in all philosophies / beliefs / religion between theory and practice.
Fear / greed beat hope most of the time.
But one should always try to see the good in someone else and work from there. It just makes for less stressful living.
“Ubuntu” is not unique to Africa, most religious philosphies have the same idea :
It seems to me very similar to “Karma”.
Also, Rabbi Hillel seemed to be onto something similar:
“If I am not for myselfm who is for me?
If I am only for myself, what am I?”
“Do not do unto others what is hateful to you”
Europe has also rejected the USA individualistic laissez faire (to the devil with the hindmost) culture in favour of more caring “safety-net” type of socialism.
Llewellyn Kriel: Clearly your “stubborn or perversely persistent” attempt at discovering what ubuntu is, has led you(Seemingly in frustration) to resort to the dismal, sinister association of what ubuntu is,with the drivel you spewed out as an analogy in the hope of unpacking what ubuntu might be. Rest assured it is not what you make it out to be! Perhaps, a thought through analogy might shed some light to the eternal recesses of you dark wisdom. Consider how black South Africans did not bring about the “night of the long knife” after winning freedom. It’s mostly because the leadership at the time had enough “Ubuntu” (Humility) to realise without the white minority South Africa would be doomed. By the way, ubuntu does breed intelligence in realising what you need to survive. Perhaps your survival might afford you the comprehension of Ubuntu as a philosphy and a means of eistence.
I live in a traditional amaBomvana (Xhosa) village – no road, running water, electricity, school, clinic, toilets, etc.
I see Ubuntu:
* in the way everyone helps everyone else during funerals and other major occasions.
* in that no matter how poor the household, you will always be offered a plate of food no matter how short/irrelevant your visit.
* in that no one here could ever imagine putting their old people in an old age home – they see these as concentration camps (the deal is that parents look after kids when they’re little and kids look after parents when they’re old… QHA!)
* ditto mentally disabled people – who live as full members of the community with their own role and functions…
* in that the idea of a person living lonely in their hut not knowing their neighbours and without friends is unknown here. Western society must represent the low point in human community (and the high point of technological development).
* in the way someone, though very poor, will adopt an orphaned child (often completely unrelated) with barely a second thought
I don’t see Ubuntu
* in the treatment of girls – in many cases (though not all) the lobola tradition amounts to the selling of young girls to older men against there will. This is now illegal but it is still practised in traditional areas like ours where Ubuntu is strongest.
* in the treatment of women in general: domestic violence is tolerated here – and even spoken of favourably by women.
* amongst the youth. They see the whole community-living vibe as backward. Young girls are having so many babies (child support grants) and they are just not equiped to be teaching their kids Ubuntu or any other traditions.
Interestingly, when I mention the word “Ubuntu” here, many people are confused as to what I’m referring to. If I mention “umntu ngumntu ngabantu” some people’s eyes light up, others still don’t know what I’m on about (I speak Xhosa). So it seems that though Ubuntu is practised here, it is not referred to as some sort of philosophy or idiomatic saying… it is just lived.
It is also important that we recognise the destructive effect alcohol is having in all our communities from the Transkei to Alex. There can be no Ubuntu in a society where drunk friends and brothers stab each other over cigarettes.
Many of my friends have said that Ubuntu and capitalism don’t mix well. Considering the global inequality and environmental crisis, possibly we should dump the rampant capitalism/materialism and keep/develop the Ubuntu…
“In traditional Afrikan society there has always been respect for all humans, for the community and for the environment…”
Hard to digest in a country where there is rampant lawlessness, exorbitant corruption levels among leaders, and total lack of regard for the community needs.
I’ll try remember the spirit of Ubuntu next time a 9mm is cocked against my head.
Ubuntu is nothing more than a useless utopian myth if you ask me…
L Kriel: I hear you and my heart goes out to you. Any reason that I am not writing in my mother tongue or is it one of those useful assumptions? The West have messed Africa up and still continues to do it. There is a lot of unlearning which need to take place and the question remain : Are we prepared to unlearn? Unless Africa commits itself, as we are indeed doing, to reflect on the that which is intrinsically african (and I constantly refer to the value systems which were hijacked,or is being hijacked by the market)then we will constantly allow the imperial west to write the script of OUR development.You know, as pointed out in another comment, ubuntu was never a philosophical concept, I do not even think our ancestors deliberated on the concept as we tend to do now – it was simply there and it was the fountain from which our communities drank and life was …. enabling.
Right on, Sipho. Ubuntu exists as a philosophy, a dream, whatever, but opening any newspaper on any day will soon show you that no such thing exists in present day South Africa. Not in any way that really matters, anyway. Child raping, men raping their own grandmothers, senseless killing, civil servants stealing pensions from the old and sick – none of these has nothing to do with poverty. It makes Ubuntu very hard to believe in.
What a pity.
Dave and Sipho have summed it up well, sadly while I may see this philosphy in more tradional areas it is certainly nowhere to be seen amongst the so called black diamonds or our new political circles, are the people of this country taking the worst from the first world countries- the corruption and greed and elitism, and losing the one thing that made the country worth fighting for in the first place? looks that way to me- this is not the South Africa I love so why should I stay and watch it degenerate because of greed and spite?
If the South African society is to embrace Ubuntu, then the adoption of Black Consciousness by Black people is sine qua non to prevention of exploitation. Remember that it was our ubuntu and the trust that goes with it, that allowed the colonialists to take over our land and wealth. Black Consciousness will provide the necessary vigilance and mentality of equality that will thwart any attempt at exploitation.
Dave seems to know what he is talking about and I agree with what he says. Llewellyn Kriel why don’t you re-read what Dave wrote? Or, even better start a correspondence with him. I think he will teach you one or two things about the concept.
Dave, what does “umntu ngumntu ngabantu” mean?
My friend told me that in Shona there is a standard expression when you have achieved something: when someone congratulates you, you say “it is all of ours.” That, to me, is a picture of ubuntu.
Hi Laura
‘umntu ngumntu ngabantu’ is from isiXhosa, and it means, loosely: ‘a person is a person through people’. The emphasis is on the benefit to the collective, the household, extended family/clan, or community.
ihave a question i want know that is it true that south african organisations need to incorporate african values such as “ubuntu” into thier management philosophy in order to be successful in the new south africa
Today’s organisations within South Africa and elsewhere would do themselves a huge favour if they incorporate the best of African values and worldviews into their organisational cultures. Ubuntu is one of the most crucial African exports that has huge ‘exportable’ value and is needed in the business world and in politics. It builds the esence of human respect… regardless of one’s ‘assumed social standing’ or level in the organisational chart.
This is an important question that you raise. Thank you
Hi Dumisani…
Thank you for launching the question “Ubuntu: Myth or antidote to today’s socio-political and leadership challenges?”
I have read your opening statements and people’s responses with interest, particularly appreciated Bua’s and Dave’s contributions.
I only recently moved to live in South Africa (2006) and can’t yet contribute to the debate…but with time I hope to do so through walking evidence.
I look forward to your synopsis and description of the new concept ‘Ubuntu Intelligence©’.
Thanks to all who took/take the time to contribute their thoughts…
I would like to invite Dr. Magadlela to do a lecture or conduct an debate with my B-Tech students as we are doing Sociology of tourism this term. Please foward this email to him as I think he writes with an open mind.
Hi Zanele…
Would you mind sharing why and how you engage your B-Tech students with “Sociology of Tourism” i.r.t. Ubuntu? Where in South Africa are you based?
I am a parter in a Cape Town based company called Shades of Black Productions. Among other things, we are involved in developing and marketing ‘Ubuntourism’, condicting ‘tourism business-as-unusual’ informed and guided by the African ethic of Ubuntu.