INAM KULA: One Fighter, One Brick – A call to action to build a better South Africa

To think of a South Africa radically different from the one we currently inhabit will require us to not only destabilise the stale ways of national building but to also provide a distinct framework from the one we have.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) must present an idea that is alive and has an architecture of its own, as this is one of the ways we can adorn society with a completely new concept. It is this that the organisation seeks to achieve with their One Fighter, One Brick Campaign.

EFF president and commander-in-chief, Julius Malema, announced during his closing remarks at the third National People’s Assembly (NPA) that it intends to complete its project of building a school that will be fully functional, that will become a paragon of what the South African schooling system should look like.

This comes after the realisation that we can no longer rely on the government to make a change in society and provide quality, world-class education for our children. If we do this, we might have to wait forever, because time is enough evidence that the government has failed to deliver on its promises to the people.

Thirty years is a long time for the hierarchies of apartheid and so-called post-apartheid to remain. The education system still mirrors a colonial one, and access to basic facilities and needs is still denied for black people.

The commitment by the EFF to build a school is not only a metaphor but a gesture that it is possible to collectively work together to create something that will have a long-lasting impact on society.

The One Fighter, One Brick campaign is both literal and figurative. Literal in the sense that if every member of the EFF donated a single or more bricks the sum of those bricks would be enough to build a school. Figurative in that the success of the school would then mean that other facilities such as clinics, libraries, and sports centres are also possible to build without the intervention of the reluctant government that we have.

There are models that we can already follow; Steve Biko was able to build Zanempilo Clinic outside of the apartheid government's intervention. Not so long ago, Oprah Winfrey built several schools which were quality and equally (if not more) competitive with the so-called elite schools.

Who planted the idea of perpetual dependence on the other to do for us? Who taught us that it is impossible to stretch the imagination without disabling it? Whoever did, lied.

There is an inherent capacity within us to work collaboratively as people of this country and push the boundaries of what is possible to do outside of government. The EFF must, through innovation, be able to conceive strategies, create new paths and directions to make sure that we achieve our objectives regardless of the limitations that we currently experience.

One Fighter, One Brick is a cry and a slogan to rebuild, and contrary to what others might assume, it is not a call for destruction.

The call by the EFF must not be mistaken as one of the liberal undertakings or projects that wholly ignore the fact that the problems of South Africa are structural.

It is not naive or asleep to the reality that to truly transform the country there are structural adjustments that must be made. The reality is that the society that we want to build will not exist in the sky, so the question of land and access to it remains a crucial one.

The One Fighter, One Brick is an outcry that we can no longer wait; our demands must be met and if they are not met, we will use all available avenues to ensure that they come to life. We will rebuild the country one brick at a time, defend the people one brick at a time, and just like that we will renew not only the EFF, but South Africa at large, one brick at a time.

It is Biko who teaches us that: “The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” And Frantz Fanon before him, who called upon each generation to, out of relative obscurity, identify its revolutionary mission, fulfill or betray it.

It must be understood that we shall not relent, we shall not tire, and we shall not reduce the intensity of our struggle.

If anything, we will only intensify our efforts through rebellious, creative and innovative strategies to ensure that in the end, we rebuild our glorious nation, with one fighter laying one brick at a time.