A Beautiful Mess.

25.

I took a deep breath and stepped up to the podium. I took one last look at the opposition and then at the adjudicator once I had set everything up for my presentation. I immediately felt a huge wave or nerves come over me before I was overwhelmed with that same combination of nervousness and excitement. The adrenaline. My drug.

"I have to agree with the statement that Mr Mbatha made. Indeed Cecil Rhodes was nothing but a white imperialist that profited off the hard labour of those before us. The removal of that statue was a good thing not only because of what it represented but it also started a movement to decolonize the South African education system and that's something you forgot to mention in your statement. Forgetfulness is the issue here ladies and gentlemen. If these statues are being taken down so that we can forget what they stood for, which are ideas and systems which still stand today then unfortunately ladies and gentlemen we're doing it for the wrong reason..."

Mmm...bathathe wena gal (Go get them girl)

I felt the rush move from the top of my head down to my toes as I let the words flow right out of me and I knew I had the audience captivated, seeing multiple nods of approval here and there and Sindi not being able to resist adding her remarks that hyped me up even more.

"Imperialism, white monopoly capital, socio-economic oppression, gender inequality, systematic racism and the list goes on, these are all ideas which these statues stood for that are still standing to this day. Systems that have been set against me, a black South African."

I went on to discuss the different unemployment figures and the socio-economic issues faced by black South Africans on a daily basis and I even went further on to discuss my background. I felt myself resonating with each and every single word and at some point I even stopped and had a 'Damn' moment because all this was starting to hit home and I remembered reading my mother's letters that she wrote to herself and the different people and children she met with on a daily basis and the circumstances surrounding them, like the girl from the shack fire. I realised just how messed up our society was and I grew even more passionate about the point I was trying to make. At this point it wasn't just a debate, I was talking about real life, real problems. In this moment I could really change someone's perspective and as I was concluding I was hoping that I got the message across.

"Now, like I said earlier, I'm not against the tearing down of these statues, of course I agree they need to be brought down but the system needs to be brought down along with them. It's time that these systems are completely stripped from our society, in our schools, work places, homes, neighbourhoods and government and it's going to take a whole lot more than just taking down huge mounds of stone to eradicate these systems, its going to take us to use our voices and everything we have to our disposal do this this. We cannot continue to white wash history and pretend like it's still not killing us today when the fact of the matter is it kills us daily and is against our very existence. Thank you. "

The audience applauded as I took my seat and I looked around the room and it was as if I saw everything that was wrong with the world. For one I noticed that Lunga was the only black member in his team and I would be lying by saying it didn't bother me.

"While we wait for the adjudicators to tally up the scores we'll take a 10 minute water break" the moderator announced and everyone went outside.

"I'm so proud of you, you did so amazing!" Sindi exclaimed while she pulled me into a warm embrace. I tried to look happy but deep down I was touched.

"Hey and then, why aren't you happy, you did so well in there"

"I'm touched, I touched myself" I said before letting out a little laugh. "I didn't think I'd go hard like that" I continued and Sindi had handed me a bottle of water.