by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department

“Cry, the Beloved Country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing, nor give too much of his heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much.” This from ‘Cry, the Beloved Country’, an incredible book by Alan Paton of life in South Africa in the years leading up to the iniquitous and horrific Apartheid laws that came in to being during the year 1948, the same year this incredible book was published. An immediate worldwide bestseller, it dealt with themes of fear, and from that darkness came hope, love and learning.

We were reminded of this book that deals with these themes through the contrast of the old and new generations; of incredible change that happens often because of shocking events; and of the recognition that if there is to be true change it needs to come from the new generation rather than rely on the old to recognize and change, when this week, we saw the announcement from South Africa that there would now be a ‘National State of Disaster’ over the horrific Blackouts or ‘Loadshedding’ as the State (lack of) Power company Eskom calls them.

As the President Cyril Ramaphosa admitted in his announcement: “…in homes across the country, many people are suffering, many are worried, many are uncertain and many are without hope…The energy crisis is an existential threat to the economy and to the fabric of our society…Our most immediate priority is to restore electricity…The state of disaster will enable us to provide practical measures that we need to take to support businesses in the food production, storage and retail supply chain, including for the rollout of generators, solar panels and uninterrupted power supplies…”.

The respected newspaper Mail and Guardian reported (here) that “The 15-year energy crisis has threatened to break the back of the country’s already fragile economy. Last month, the [Central] Bank forecast that the economy would grow a mere 0.3% in 2023 as a result of load-shedding’s onslaught. At that rate, the country’s unemployment will remain stubbornly high…”.

The President continued: “We know that, without a reliable supply of electricity businesses cannot grow, assembly lines cannot run, crops cannot be irrigated and basic services are interrupted…Load-shedding means that households and our supermarkets and shops are unable to keep food fresh, water supply is often disrupted, traffic lights do not work, streets are not lit at night. Without a reliable supply of electricity, our efforts to grow an inclusive economy that creates jobs and reduces poverty will not succeed."

The FT reports (here) that “Eskom has had to cut off swaths of customers for up to 10 hours per day in recent months in order to prevent the accelerating collapse of ageing coal power plants…”. 10 hours of no power? How can businesses survive that? How can any business?

We saw a post on social media from one South African saying that the people of South Africa were adaptable, they will be nimble, survive, grow and come out of this stronger, and although we would agree 100% (or 110% as they often say!) with his description of our wonderful South African Lionesses, there are a few problems we have with this.

To survive this one still needs power, either from a generator or solar - but that requires money, not all businesses have this. In addition, if they sell, they need their customers to have money to pay… Of course one is no longer paying Eskom for power and that money saved can go towards Diesel, but when power comes back on, it fries laptops, TVs, in fact almost anything that is plugged in. Of course one can claim on the insurance, but then guess where your insurance pricing is going next year? - It’s not down, that’s for sure. Increased costs yet again.

Secondly, the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s famous saying: ‘That which does not kill me, makes me stronger’ is misunderstood. This ‘stronger’ often happens because the last person standing, is by definition the strongest, but that does not mean they have avoided any cuts, blows and bruises, that may prove mortal later…

As the author of ‘The Good Psychologist’ Noam Shpancer, Ph.D., says (here): “In an evolutionary sense, those who survive a calamity are by definition the fittest. But it is not the calamity that made them so. For our minds, however, the leap is short between seeing the strong emerge from a calamity and concluding that they are strong because of the calamity… As a rule, if you are stronger after hardship, it is probably despite, not because of the hardship.”

So if we are all to be weakened by this, and simple common sense suggests that South Africa is not going to find some magical solution by getting even closer to Russia, an overnight building of Nuclear Power Stations, or even in blowing almost an entire Tourism budget in sponsoring Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (yes), South Africans do have to take a deep breath and somehow adapt.

The central theme flowing through ‘Cry, the Beloved Country’ is of fear and how fear will destroy. As a definition of fear Cyril Ramaphosa in his announcement hit the nail on the head: “suffering…worried…uncertain and…without hope.” Yeah, fear is not pleasant.

Alan Paton showed in his book that the only way to defeat fear was through love. Dr Noam adds “Developmental research has shown convincingly that traumatized children are more, not less, likely to be traumatized again. Kids who grow up in a tough neighborhood become weaker, not stronger. They are more, not less likely to struggle in the world.” To break these chains of fear and trauma, one needs love and help, as he says: “Mayhem and chaos don't toughen you up, and they don't prepare you well to deal with the terror of this world. Tender love and care toughen you up, because they nurture and strengthen your capacity to learn and adapt—including learning how to fight, and adapting to later hardship."

That is where we come in as a community. Melanie founded the Lionesses in 2014 to drive knowledge transfer, training and assistance to women entrepreneurs across the whole of Africa, all wrapped in a beautiful community where all Lionesses could learn from and help one another - within a safe space.

Now more than ever we must lean on this community, this inspirational, new generation of leaders rather than rely on the old to recognize and change - we simply do not have the time! If you feel that other Lionesses can learn from your actions, from your results, perhaps even from your luck, reach out to other members, to help them understand and assist them to find the light ahead. Write articles, drop thoughts and notes to our editorial team for publication, even if you have successfully applied for grant funding (and there are Solar grants hitting the South African streets soon), share your successful applications so other Lionesses may learn. Many are on Lioness WhatsApp groups - drop information on these. Be nimble, adapt and be generous.

If you are struggling, hitting the hard times and nothing seems to be going your way, reach out to others within this incredible community of over 1.5 million like-minded businesswomen. Some may have gone through what you are going through now, some may have ideas that could assist (simply by standing further away from the thick dark forest in which you find yourself, they can perhaps see the wood from the trees and guide you out), some may even have ideas of areas in which you can cooperate.

We cannot allow this ‘National State of Disaster’ brought about by the old generation to impact and bring down us, the new generation of inspirational businesswomen fighting for a better life for ourselves, for our families, for our friends and for our communities.

Do not allow this ‘National State of Disaster’

to become a ‘National State of Despair’.

‘Cry, the Beloved Country’ despite its unflinching portrayal of darkness and despair in South Africa, it still ends with and offers the prospect of hope for a better future. Together, we Lionesses, can work to bring that better future closer.

“Let [us] love the earth deeply. Let [us] laugh gladly when the water runs through [our] fingers, [and] stand silent [in awe] when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let [us] be moved when the birds of [our] land are singing, [and] give much of [our] heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will [not] rob [us]…”.