Yet there is so much to be done in setting the country on a better course politically. Being one of the better-resourced segments in society, especially in terms of education, access to various levers of influence and the ability to project its voice in the public domain, much is expected of the middle classes. Sadly, it would seem dealing with political challenges is a responsibility they are content to leave to politicians. Having achieved democracy, we may have reasoned prematurely that we needed a break from heavy matters of the future and nation-building to enjoy the spoils of freedom.

This complacency has made us lose the capacity for political awareness rooted in active civic participation. Granted, it would be unrealistic to expect everyone to be politically involved in the sense of joining a branch of a political party or campaigning for a seat in Parliament. In a pluralistic democracy such as ours, it is also not possible to prescribe precisely the forms of political activism that individuals should be involved in.

Being an engaged citizen, however, could take many forms not limited to those defined according to the template of mainstream politics. These include growing mobilisation by a critical mass of participants around big policy issues, movements formed around specific causes, or networks that advocate for certain forms of political reform.

It is a choice every individual has to make. This should begin with consciousness of the relative resources and power we possess to effect changes, even in small ways. It is in the realm of politics that the battles for defining SA’s future are fought. It is in politics where major decisions affecting various aspects of policy are made. These include the quality of the country’s human capital and defining acceptable standards of leadership. It is also those at the coalface of politics, rather than those watching passively or shouting from the sidelines, that have a better chance of shaping a different future.

Not being actively engaged is implicitly choosing to cede power to those who have seized the commanding heights of politics. The axiom that every nation has the leaders it deserves is fitting for SA. Our lethargy produces a political climate that gives us mediocre leadership, making us complicit in the declining quality of our democracy.

There are several factors that explain our complacency and detachment from mainstream political processes. The black middle classes, in particular, have become comfortable with political change and the economic security that comes with holding a professional job and a regular income. This segment of society believes it can afford not to be bothered by politics, especially as its material conditions have improved.

On the other hand, the middle classes carry the burden of financing, through their taxes, infrastructure and social services they hardly use, notably public hospitals and public schooling. They also carry the additional strain of paying for similar services more efficiently provided by the private sector. It is a situation that should brew a revolution, but it hasn’t.

There is also another disturbing form of complacent thinking found among sections of the white middle class, who consider it a special calling of the black middle class to challenge the government. This segment reasons it has been emasculated by its whiteness, and thus has no legitimacy in the eyes of the ruling elite to express a credible political view. This is an irrational view based on an unfounded assumption that they need to be legitimated by the ruling elites to express their preference about the state of politics in SA. It is also a convenient escape from individual responsibility to whiteness as a delegitimated category that can exist politically only as a victim of the black-led ruling party. Such an irresponsible position of victimhood does not contribute towards progressive social change.

Third, we seem to hold a very limited and disempowering view of leadership as something that others — and mostly politicians — should exercise, rather than as something that we as citizens are also capable of. We see our role as limited to offering criticism from a place of detachment.

Since we have happily ceded power to politicians, we have learned to become powerless by choice. Positive engagement, be it through mainstream politics or other citizen initiatives to drive change in specific areas, is empowering. It challenges those who hold political power while also creating alternatives. It is not possible to continue wallowing in our learned powerlessness and at the same time hope to get better leaders and enjoy a better-governed country.

This article appeared in Business Day of 15 June 2012