ARE YOU AN INDEGENOUS AFRICAN?

Mr Le Roux, SENAs general manager almost had me chocking on my food when he asked me this question during lunch on Thursday.

As usual, I was sitting quietly at the table among the SENA staff who are my seniors. I become very shy when I’m in the company of people who are much more mature and knowledgeable than I. Back when I was a child, I stayed with my grand-mother, who would chase me and my younger brother away to play in the bedroom- as long as we kept our distance from the lounge where we would not hear any conversations that were considered too serious for children and are meant for adults’ ears only!! As I became older, that was translated as a sign of respect.

Anyways…back to the whole notion of indigenousness…it is a pretty loaded term because people may not interpret it the same way. For simplicity’s sake though, if we were to unpack it from a denotative point of view, my dictionary states that it is about “belonging naturally…of people regarded as the original inhabitants of an area.” My interpretation of this definition- and please correct me if I am missing the point- is that nature isn’t static. From a genetic point of view, I am definitely not an indigenous African because my ancestry, although I would not say that I am such an expert in it, is mixed due to migration. I know that in my mother’s family for instance, there is some European blood. Although my surname is Tswana and my mother's is Zulu. I may be originally from Japan for all I know:-). What I do know is that I was born and raised in South Africa, and brought up to value ubuntu. From a cultural perspective, I would say that I am an indigenous African. What makes me an indigenous African is that I believe that there is so much power in human relationships that can be magical in a state of unity. As an African, I believe that I am just a human being who isn’t exclusive and limited to one area. How does effective synergy prosper when we limit ourselves to indigenous efforts? Steve Covey would say, in his Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, that when one has reached a healthy level of independence, a heightened sense of synergy is achieved in one’s interrelated relationships.