The attempted coup of July 2021

In the week of 12 – 16 July 2021, unrest broke out in South Africa.

Photo: Claudine Senekal, Ladysmith Herald

At the time of writing this post, all that is known is that 12 people were identified as ringleaders and that arrests is promised to follow. Much will be written about the events and you can find the info you want by googling it.

This post contains my insights on what I see as an opportunity for the people of South Africa to distance themselves from everything that do not serve them. Only time will tell whether any good came out of the people’s reaction and whether it turns out to be permanent.

The facts

When the instigation reached a stage where the suburbs and houses of ordinary people were threatened, people stood up for themselves because the police were visibly absent. People came together and formed neighbourhood groups who set up blockades at the entrances of suburbs and around shopping centres that were still standing.

These groups formed across traditional divides such as
– religious,
– political and
– racial divides.

To me, these three parts of any society are the main reasons for creating and enforcing divisions between groups of people.

But, in the week of the unrest (which, by the way, I believe will later be accepted as an attempted coup) people somehow forgot about these divisions.

Why?

There was a threat against all the people regardless of their religious, political and racial affiliations. A common enemy forces people into a group with a common goal. In this case, the common goal was the defense of property and lives.

No-one was fighting to quell a coup or uprising. They just defended their lives and property.

What does that tell us?

It shows us that events that threaten people across divides, act as creators of togetherness.

A crisis that threatens people’s way of life or existence, breaks down artificial borders and forces society into natural groups. “Natural” in this sense, meaning a situation that is objectively created or reached. In other words, it stands independent without the need for explanation. You don’t have to explain an objectively occurring situation. It is created by fact, not human interpretation. An example of an objective fact is that humans are identified by a set of features. If an entity or organism displays those features, it needs no explanation and manifests as fact. (A fact being something that actually exists).

An objective fact could be proven using the concept of the First Principle. A first principle is a basic proposition or assumption that cannot be deduced from any other proposition or assumption. Read more about First Principle.

Religion as a basic human need can be proven by the first principle (the belief in a higher power exists in all human groups), but not the truth of a specific religion (which is probably why there are multiple religions), racial differences can be proved by the first principle by observing skin colour (but attributes such as racial superiority can not). The existence of political groups can be proved by the first principle, but not its content (policy) as each supporter will explain the policy differently (it means different things to different people in the same belief system or party).

In this event, the aims of the government and the aims of the people in different political, religious and racial groupings, coincided because, although their reasons for opposing the coup differed, their aim was the same. At the same time, people over political, racial and religious divides acted as a group with a common aim – to protect their property and lives.

So what is the point?

A question that popped into my thinking was whether the same reaction that created this homogenous group of people, could be extended into the future. In other words, could we get South Africans to work together across racial, political and religious divides?

And the answer I got: Yes if …. If we could get people to form in a group with a common aim that disregards factors that divide them.

Could we get South Africans to work together across racial, political and religious divides?

Yes, if we could get them to collect in a group with a common aim that is stronger than the factors that divide them.

What would we need?

We would need to remove the failures of the present system, namely:

  • leaders, because politics do not attract people with a sense of purpose, but people who want to benefit themselves;
  • an inadequate system that is unable to bridge the divides in society.

A vehicle – traditionally a political party, religion or race group, which all will fail as it cannot offer anything that all people would be able to identify with and follow. Could it be a movement? Could it be a completely new form of grouping?

A belief – a continuous threat or reward is not attainable. Are there any emotional factors that people would accept so strongly that they would be prepared to participate across political, racial and religious divides? Could it be a belief that what people were able to attain (make a coup fail) could enable them to create a better way in which they are governed?

I believe it is possible. But I don’t think that will happen in a very long time because people are the prisoners of their own limits. Those limits are mostly emotional (psychological) of nature and therefore virtually impossible to change.

For that to happen, we need people to detach themselves from whatever their present beliefs are.

More about this in a future post.