MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN

“In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote … upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote…

And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.

TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.

PERES; Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” 

(KJV Daniel 5 vs: 5, 25-28)

Belshazzar, King of the Chaldeans, no sooner had the writing on the wall of his palace been interpreted to him, than he was dispatched. His kingdom fell unceremoniously into the hands of Darius, the Median. Weighed and found wanting, Belshazzar himself came to a sticky end.

Power and influence, popularity, the sway of ideology, life itself is ephemeral. Epochs come and go and when each one’s time is up, it will recede irredeemably into obscurity to make way for the next. Historians will be left to pore over the causes and results, and long debate when it was that the writing first appeared on the wall in relation to their fading into the mists of time. 

The fall of empires often follow a predictable trajectory. How they come to an end is similar to the way people fall into bankruptcy: initially slowly over time – then suddenly. It is a bitter blow to those who fail to read the “writing on the wall” when the seeds of their demise begin to creep up on them, almost imperceptibly. The crash, though, is spectacular.

In Africa the Empires of Europe established their economic and political stake when they were at the height of their power which they projected across the globe with gunboats, cannons and guns. Locals were subjected to their might, and relegated to the role of third class citizens in what had once been the domain in which they had determined their own destinies. True it was that both good and wicked outcomes were brought about by the imposition of their political, military and economic might. Africa was carved up into spheres of European influence without much thought as to the centuries old natural and de facto boundaries, which had been established by African kingdoms and tribal affiliations of yore. Civilizations and customs that had their own long histories and internecine rivalries and battles, were superseded by a new hegemony of an unfamiliar European culture. Most of the newly subservient peoples had not seen the changes coming and were taken by complete surprise as their own way of life slunk away under the onslaught of nation states that began to project their newly found might. That might was born out of the rapid industrialisation and attendant explosion of wealth that afforded them the means to subjugate all who resisted. The rivalries, feuds and animosity evinced by the tribes they found in situ, were exploited to keep resistance at bay and extract wealth from a hitherto under-developed corner of the globe. 

As the imperial masters spread their power and influence across a continent which had hidden, yet extensive, resources both mineral (for mining) and fertile (agricultural soil), a multitude of opportunities presented themselves. A multiplicity of religious missionary organisations felt the compunction to spread their understanding of and adherence to a world view foreign to the animistic and totem-worshiping locals. Steeped in ancestor worship and a firm belief in the involvement of departed souls in the realm of the living, missionaries had little difficulty in persuading Africans to accept concepts such as the “after-life”, faith in the realm of an unseen deity and the like. Competing missionary groupings engaged in a cut-throat competition for souls on the dark continent.

The scramble for Africa amongst imperial powers gained new impetus after the 1884 Berlin Conference, at which an agreement was cobbled together to split African spheres of interest for themselves. This was a process undertaken with little regard for local circumstances.

For about a century the influence of Europe in Africa brought about lasting improvements in infrastructure that benefited their economic interest in extracting the mineral wealth of the continent. The relegation of the locals to the lowest echelons of colonial societies did little to endear the imperial cohort to Africans. Locals drifted inexorably towards a determined effort to curb foreign interests and expansion. Political formations rose up to exert pressure for self-determination and independence. Once again, the beginnings were meagre, but increased in intensity as the African leadership began to consolidate their influence – using to their own advantage what they had learned from the colonisers about political power, administration, flexing armed muscle and fomenting rebellion. The end of Empire had slow beginnings which colonial administrations were slow to grasp, but rapidly led to a European scramble from Africa. The writing on the wall was once again missed by those in power, and the destruction was often both sudden and brutal.

By the late 1960s few colonies remained in Africa – mostly limited to Southern Africa. South Africa and Rhodesia alone were special cases, as colonial settlement had uniquely given rise to substantial numbers  of folk with colonial European heritage to have fully settled and become African in their own right. Having long since severed ties with the European continent, they wielded enormous political power in their regions – power which they failed to adequately share with the majority. The imbalance of power extended to settlers of colour (Indians and Malay as well as former imported slaves) – and resentment grew against the draconian exercise of that power. When the chapter of European colonialism drew to a close, the lone white Africans also failed to read the writing on the wall of political power and hegemony. Had there been a modicum of finesse, the process of fostering friendship across the great divides of race and class would have been preferable to stoking up enmity and leaving lingering resentment on both sides. 

When the transition was finally made to a universal South African identity overarching the latent societal divisions, scars remained and the new political elite settled into power, but failed to address issues that would once again cause the scaffolding of the state to become a tad wobbly. Issues of governance were neglected as a scramble for personal wealth, power and positions was pursued. Selfish and corrupt pursuit of the interests of the few, neglected the necessity for equal opportunity and social mobility in the interests of the majority. 

Once more the hand inscribes against the plaster: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.