Mlungisi Maseko’s ubuntu is the blueprint of South Africa’s future

OUR society of today faces a plethora of challenges that are not only widely rampant, but severely implicate the quality of lives of millions of South Africans.

In fact, according to the Academy of Science of SA (Assaf), more than 3 million citizens lack access to clean running water, while a hefty 14 million people lack access to safe sanitation, including flushing toilets and proper waste disposal.

Water insecurity is one of the most dire challenges faced in our society today. This issue, in fact, disproportionately affects people living in rural communities, as well as informal urban settlements.

Despite our efforts to further development, while contending with firmly ingrained greed and self-preservation, one citizen has grabbed the bull by the horns and led the charge in tackling the issue of water security.

Mlungisi Maseko of Mooiplaas, Mpumalanga, has used the totality of his R1.3 million Road Accident Fund (RAF) payout to permanently bring running water to his village.

Instead of typically splurging his payout or fleeing his rural roots, he has chosen to transform a personal tragedy into a collective triumph, using every cent of his payout to establish a clean running water supply to more than 100 households that had gone about 15 long years without water, a basic human right.

Maseko has indeed emerged as a beacon of hope in our society, often riddled with the individualistic tendencies of capitalism and self-promotion. This man’s actions alone have served as a stark reminder that the spirit of ubuntu is not a relic of the past but a burning force waiting to be reignited.

After a debilitating car accident left the 43-year-old with leg injuries, he chose to use his payout by embarking on a quest that would radically transform the lives of not only his own family but everyone within his community.

Hailing from the Chief Albert Luthuli municipality in Mooiplaas, Maseko used the entirety of his R1.3 million RAF payout to procure water tanks, pipes, various equipment, and hire hordes of staff to construct a new water supply system, linked to a local stream. Following over 15 years of claims by the local municipality that there were no funds whatsoever to supply water to the villagers, this swift move by this determined individual has completely transformed the lives of more than 100 households.

This is not charity; it is social justice in its most absolute form. Across our post-apartheid society, there has been a terribly reductive perspective that claims that the government will “take care” of the people, that those in leadership will somehow enrich the individuals in our society.

This is a fallacy that has hampered our own production and transformation for far too long. The government isn’t coming to save you. The people within our communities, and across our society, will forever be solely responsible for their own upliftment.

Anne Frank once wrote: “How wonderful it is that nobody needs to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” This reverberates the enormous feat that has been achieved by Maseko.

Engineered by the hands of a single man with a resolute plan of action, a man who refused to wait for government promises or distant policies to reach his people, his selflessness speaks directly to every South African; the future of our entire society lies not in waiting, but in doing.

“I was raised by this community. When I received that money, I knew it wasn’t just for me, it was for us,” Maseko reportedly said.

Certainly, we cannot afford to be spectators while our neighbours suffer. Maseko's story is a direct challenge to the toxic culture of individualism that has eroded our sense of collective responsibility - our Ubuntu. At its core, his story is a call to action: What are you doing with what you have?

Imagine the immense, unimaginable change that will take place if each of us, regardless of our means, committed to uplifting just one other life. Maseko didn’t have millions in wealth or institutional power — just courage, a vision, and an unshakable belief that our betterment is possible.

This is the attitude that every South African should adopt if we are ever to build a society defined by dignity, equity, and justice, and true liberation. One individual’s actions can be so life-changing — imagine what two, or three, or more individuals could achieve?

As a society, one of our fatal flaws remains the harmful undermining of our inherent strengths. In society, some have the ability to mobilise, some have the ability to be resourceful, some have the ability to be analytical — yet all of these individuals are equally vital to the improvement and upliftment of our society. The future is in our hands, and we must begin to seriously integrate our collective strengths to further our cause: a better South Africa.

What cannot be sidelined is that this initiative by Maseko has not only alleviated the villagers’ daily struggles but has also empowered them with newfound dignity and access to clean water.

In South Africa, we have faced unstable infrastructural challenges for so long that one may forget that these (water, electricity, shelter, and so many more) are basic human rights, enshrined in our great constitution. We must fight for these as arduously as we have fought to obtain and maintain our democracy. We must put the people of the nation at the forefront of our national mandate.

In recognition of his extraordinary act of kindness, Maseko will be honoured at the inaugural Mzansi Men of Influence Awards in Pretoria, where he will be celebrated for his unwavering commitment to community welfare. Truly, Maseko’s story should serve as an inspiration to the millions of capable, brave and determined South Africans who aim to make meaningful changes that will impact our society for generations to come.

Let us also forget the sentiments of our culture and our identities in driving forward such transformational action. Mlungisi, meaning fixer, has certainly embodied the essence of his name. His single resolve for running water for all has been an immense example of ubuntu.

This is not only emphasising our inherent connection to one another, but also the collective empowerment that comes about when our society embodies compassion and empathy for one another. This is what happens when we put the people at the forefront.

Maseko is not just a local hero, he is the blueprint. An 18th-century poet, Joseph Addison, once said: “No one is more cherished in this world than someone who lightens the burden of another.” Now more than ever, it is vital that we remember our innate individual ability to change our society for the better and to transform the world around us.

Maseko has become a beacon of light in our society, and he has set the tone for the future of social justice initiatives everywhere. Let his story not only inspire us but fiercely incite us into action.

* Tswelopele Makoe is a gender and social justice activist and the editor of Global South Media Network. She is a researcher and columnist, published weekly in the Sunday Independent, Independent Online (IOL), Global South Media Network (GSMN.co.za), and Eswatini Daily News. She is also an Andrew W Mellon scholar at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice, UWC. The views expressed are her own.

** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, Independent Media, or IOL.