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Perhaps it is time to accept that racism will be a chronic disease in our country.
It is endemic, but unlike a disease where doctors and nurses join forces to fight it, racism has many proponents.
Some are vociferous, others are quiet, and many are subtle and unaware that they are propagating it.
The dream of the rainbow nation has been abandoned and left to rot like a deserted lighthouse as our founding fathers and mothers walk towards the sunset of their lives.
Many people I talk to seem to have warped regrets, saying the problem with South Africa is that it avoided a civil war, which would have decided the winners and the losers, and that the mutual tragedy would then create a mutual history that would unite us.
It is safe to say the strands that make up the fabric of South African society are unravelling on their own, and that there is an urgent need to fix the mess before it is too late.
Racism is rearing its many ugly heads, either as xenophobia, tribalism or as religious intolerance.
In a funny way, racism is colour-blind – whether it comes in the form of South African officials treating all Zimbabweans as criminals at the Musina border, or in the form of the Mabel Jansens in our country uttering racist drivel in private.
The reason racism thrives is because good people prefer to say nothing about it, much less do anything about it.
It takes special people to change the status quo, as happened when Advocate Vuyani Ngalwana dared to lay a complaint against Judge Jansen.
South African society is struggling to deal with an assertive black man, who has moved from being a gardener to the head of state in one day. Our country cannot even comprehend the role and behaviour of the decisive black woman.
This is what causes the vortex of our discontent, pulling us down to the bottom of all life.
Racism is a disease that consumes the soul, it devours the self-confidence of its victims, leaving behind a spiritless blob with a big ego that has to be massaged all the time.
A failing country will undoubtedly take down its business sector with it, and the biggest losers will be fledgling black businesses.
Most of South Africa’s large companies are already owned by overseas investors who can move their money out at the click of a mouse.
Foreign direct investment has slowed down tremendously compared with previous years.
We must ask ourselves this: “If we do not invest in ourselves, who will?”
Who will believe in us if we do not believe in ourselves? Who will speak well of us if we speak ill of ourselves?
Our final answer is business leadership because our political leadership, both those in power or in the opposition, has failed dismally.
If companies want to survive, they’ll need to perfect the concept of “co-opetition”, where competitors cooperate in matters of common interest and compete fiercely at the same time.
Co-opetition is not unlawful.
A good example can be seen in a shopping mall, where the shops compete but still want customers to come to the same mall.
Business must cooperate in fighting racism both internally and in the country. It has the wherewithal to do this. It has the ability to change perceptions over time.
Business has told us that skinny and light is better than dark and voluptuous, and millions around the world believe it.
We need managers to take a stand within their organisations, to make this country great regardless of the colour of their skins.
Kuzwayo is the founder of Ignitive, an advertising agency
