The book provides solutions to the problems South Africans are currently facing Photo Manifesto Book
South Africa – Manifesto: A New Vision for South Africa by author Songezo Zibi is filled with a message of hope. In these trying times, the book is a welcomed piece of literature that fills South Africans with the feeling that things can be better.
This is the second book from Zibi. The first is called Raising The Bar: Hope And Renewal in South Africa and was released in 2014. He signed a deal with the publisher to write and release two books. In 2017 he had hoped to release a follow up but due to the constant changes in the political sphere, he was unable to.
“I thought that by 2017 I would be in a position to write a follow-up book. Of course, things kept changing so fast under President Jacob Zuma that every time I started writing it would soon be out of date. Eventually, last year I took a decision to just put a peg in the ground and write this book. It’s been in the works for 18 months I would say, which is a good time to reflect and write.”
The way Zibi wrote his book
Politics is an ever-changing landscape. From new ministers being selected to a whole cabinet being reshuffled, a lot can happen over a brief period of time. Sometimes a chapter or two needs to be removed or added. For Zibi, however, he chose to focus on what has happened in the twenty-seven years of democracy and what changes need to be made. This approach allowed him to ignore the day-to-day politics.
“What I do in the book is look at the last twenty-seven years of democracy. I take a step back and say what’s working and what’s not working. What do we need to change and what is urgent that we all need to act together to change now. What are some of the things we need to change in the medium term in order to make our democracy better, to change the lives of South Africans for the better and to unite as a nation.”
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The research done for the book
There are many historical references in the book. Zibi has looked at how politics has functioned over the past twenty-seven years and has identified what has gone wrong and what changes need to be made. The decisions taken over the last three decades have been the focus of the book.
“The electoral system that we have, which empowers political parties and disempowers citizens, was put in place to make sure that all South Africans by race had a representation in parliament. Therefore, the power was given to political parties so that they may form whatever political parties they wanted.”
The country has come a long way from then. That was the need at the time. Now that need no longer exists and so the system must be changed.
“We can unite on the basis of values, unite on the basis of this constitution, and we can find a political home somewhere either through political parties or as independents. We need to change that system so that South Africans can elect people they trust. They can hold them accountable, and the system also assists in the delivery of services and other freedoms to ordinary South Africans.”
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The people ready to make these changes in the book
Plans are just words written down until acted upon. Although the book is supposed to evoke some reaction from political leaders, Zibi doesn’t believe it will. However, he has been contacted by those involved in communities.
“The politicians can see that what’s in the book is not in their interest. The people that have reached out to me work in communities and in the country. They are civil society leaders, community leaders and community groups. It’s been wonderful in that way and those are the people who work with ordinary people and want to see the change. I look forward to working with them within their spaces.”
The book has so far been met with positive feedback and is available online on Kindle and at every major bookstore. There is also a website where one can share their thoughts. Zibi hopes to engage with all his readers to try and create a positive change in the country.
