Africa is a house of hunger

Over twenty years since the end of apartheid, and the birth of the new Rainbow Nation, South Africans are yet to realise the dreams they had when they first voted for leaders they thought understood their plight.

The political situation has continued to worsen and the current government is a disappointment.

South Africans are a burdened people who have to bear scandal upon scandal from the government even though president Jacob Zuma ascended to power on the strength of his promises to the people, key among them being to identify with the ordinary citizen.

Unfortunately, he has since forgotten about the welfare of the people and it seems his singular motive is to bring South Africa to her knees.

The condition South Africans is the subject of Hunger Eats a Man (Penguin, 2015), a novel by Nkosinathi Sithole.

The novel tells the story of Priest, a minister of the gospel who, like many of his neighbours, is struggling to feed his family. Priest does not have a source of income and unless something major happens to change his fortunes he will starve to death with his family.

There are no jobs and Priest and his neighbours will do anything to save their families.

Hunger and the state of unemployment make them prone to exploitation by a white farmer who not only overworks them but also pays them poorly.

Priest’s situation is contrasted to Bongani’s, a wealthy school principal who prides in his classiest house in the area. In fact, his house is a landmark since it is storeyed.

The characters in the novel live in two separate areas — Hunger-Eats-a-Man and Canaan — distinguished by poverty and affluence that characterise the two areas.

After suffering from hunger for so long, the residents of Hunger-Eats-a-Man decide that they have had enough and it is time to fight for their rights.

Sithole is concerned with the problems that afflict ordinary South Africans but which are not unique to South Africa. He paints ordinary citizens as a hungry people, literally and metaphorically.

Africans are hungry for employment, democracy, honourable leadership, freedom, peace, justice, education, healthcare, equity in allocation of national resources and unity.

In the novel, Priest is so hungry that he will take any job to enable him feed and educate his children. He knows his employer is exploiting him but he has to accept the poor working conditions.

The author highlights the history of exploitation in South Africa, noting sadly that even with the fall of apartheid, citizens still live under the mercy of greedy employers.

The high rates of unemployment, which the author castigates, lead to unchecked exploitation and hunger and destitution which force people to accept the most unreasonable terms since they are desperate.

Exploitation of workers is a kind of modern-day slavery which, unfortunately, many Africans suffer because their governments have abandoned them. Hunger is what leads to violence and other forms of social and moral degeneration.

The novel addresses the ever increasing gap between the rich and the poor, a common narrative in Africa.

The number of citizens living in poor neighbourhoods keeps rising and leaders do not care about their voters who cannot afford a decent meal.

The residents of Canaan despise their neighbours from Hunger-Eats-a-Man, and see them as dirty creatures who pollute their otherwise clean air.

One of the leaders uses the money that had been allocated for the construction of public toilets and roads on a car. His case is not peculiar considering similar cases of embezzlement in Kenya where a huge percentage of citizens live below the poverty line.

How will the number of the poor be reduced when leaders become thieves, gorging themselves with state resources?

How can the gap between Hunger-Eats-a-Man and Canaan be bridged when elected leaders only care about their huge allowances at the expense of nation building?

How do these so called leaders feel when they look at the hungry emaciated electorate from the comfort of their heavily tinted vehicles?

Hunger is humiliating and dehumanising. Priest is a respected member of his community but their shared hunger (poverty) sees him share their desperate hunt for jobs.

The author is concerned with the indignity with which many Africans live while their leaders and only the rich and the powerful enjoy State resources.

Rather than watch their children die, the poor have to labour in poor working conditions; and lack the energy to demand better terms of employment and fight for their fundamental rights.

At some point in Hunger-Eats-a-Man, residents scramble for rotten potatoes that have been “donated” by a wealthy farmer.

The image of adults and children running after a truck to collect rotten potatoes is the ultimate portrayal of a dehumanised populace.

When politicians call for meetings, citizens attend only because they might get food.

Africans may have been liberated from the slavery and oppression of apartheid or colonialism but are still largely enslaved by their leaders.

Hunger Eats a Man satirises the government for discouraging any thinking that might lead the people into questioning the status quo.

The school principal is disturbed by Priest’s teenage son, who writes poems, for “over expressing” himself and daring to write “nonsense” about the government.

He refers to the boy as a terrorist whose “diabolical ideas will cause trouble and [therefore] he needs to be halted by any means.”

Those in power get very uncomfortable when citizens begin to ask questions about their apparent greed and exploitation.

Like the school principal, leaders expect citizens to be grateful that they have a black president and overlook the “little shortcomings” of the leaders.

Criticising the government is seen as unpatriotic — and citizens are encouraged to embrace the concept of “Proudly South African.”

Sithole’s novel questions the illusion of patriotism in the face of hunger. How can a hungry populace be patriotic?

A few years ago, Kenyan had a similar slogan, Najivunia kuwa Mkenya (I am proud to be a Kenyan). Can we genuinely utter these words when we can barely feed our families? This novel is about Africans’ shattered hopes and the need for change. It calls on the people to change their thoughts about the leaders they elect since the current ones have no respect for democracy and freedom.

It is a reminder to all of us to shun the “our tribe” mentality if Africa is to progress. It tells our leaders to get their priorities right and resolve the abject poverty first.

For instance, what purpose do roads and bridges serve when people are dying of hunger? How will computers help school children who do not have classrooms or teachers?

Sithole chastises African leaders who retain power through intimidation of voters.

Hunger Eats a Man is a notice to greedy African rulers in which citizens declare their intent to fight for their rights. Voters have had enough and they will make a grand march to Canaan — the land of hope — because they intend to live well.

Citizens are not asking for free money and all they need is a chance to better their lives.

They will do so by coming together to work for the change that they desire and eliminate the hunger that is a threat to their lives.