Durban - In order for Africans to take charge of their land and themselves, they will need to look no further then themselves says Dr Lungile Bhengu-Baloyi.
Speaking on the final day of the 12th African Renaissance Conference in Durban on Wednesday, Baloyi, an advocate for social transformation through personal development, said it was imperative that Africans look beyond the conditioning that they have become accustomed to.
"We need to take charge on an interpersonal level. We have to look to ourselves to improve," Baloyi said.
Baloyi believes that in order for Africa to progress and grow in all areas, its people need to challenges themselves to change their mindsets.
"If we want to see sustainable change, we have to change the way we think".
A concept that she writes about in her book titled, African Midwife: Change Beyond Form which seeks to get people "to heal the divisions of our past and to give birth to a better world for all who live in it".
The issues around gender, race, and ethnicity are prevalent in South Africa as too on the rest of the continent she said.
Baloyi feels that people often use these issues as a mask.
"We need to operate from our hearts. Things like xenophobia - this is just something we are hiding behind. We need to understand what the real and underlying issue is," said Baloyi.
She added that if people were good natured, there would be no place for hate that manifests as the many social ills that Africa faces.
"There are no bad religions or organisations. There are people within it that have issues. Look at their mission statements. There is always good that is stated there," explained Baloyi.
Turning to an issue closer to home, Baloyi said after South Africa's first election in 1994, there wasn't much opportunity for people to heal.
She feels that South Africans did not go through a "cleansing" process, although the constitution provides room for its citizens to freely express themselves.
"At the time we needed to get our constitution and laws sorted out. We didn't afford people the opportunity to talk about their anger or fears. There are rights in our constitution but we didn't learn about the responsibilities," said Baloyi.
Baloyi added that it's not too late for healing to take place as she suggested that families look into the anger and pain they are still carrying.
"If they heal themselves by acknowledge their feelings and letting it go, the generations to come will have the platform to be really powerful people, without having to be in positions of power," she added
