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Historians disagree about when the agricultural revolution started. In fact, unlike the fourth industrial revolution, there have been many agricultural revolutions.
Understandably, one of the reasons for this is the world used to be far less connected, so every nation and, in some instances, every tribe was a world of its own.
Last week, we discussed the neolithic revolution, and spent some time in Swartkrans, Mogale City, and saw how the people who used to live there transformed from being hunter gatherers to farmers.
This week, we are going back to a land 8 000 years before the birth of Christ, in Mesoamerica, to rediscover mealies, which would one day become the staple food of South Africa.
As the nomads started to live more sedentary lifestyles, they cultivated wild plants, which they then stored to be consumed when the hunting was bad or during a drought. This is a lesson modern South Africans must learn – how important it is to save.
Democratic South Africa has been characterised by a long boom and a doubling of the middle class, which was largely fuelled by the availability of credit. Now things have slowed down – young people cannot find jobs and the country has no money of its own to jump-start the economy. To add to our woes, there is no culture of saving, so many middle-class people with children have no money to help them start businesses.
It is a shame that many parents, who are beneficiaries of Nelson Mandela’s economic growth, chose to squander it on cars and mansions they could hardly afford, instead of saving money to fund the future success of their children.
Instead of owning up, it has become fashionable to criticise the former president as a man who sold us out at the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (Codesa).
Views such as these are unfounded and typical of the culture of blaming others for our own failures. Mandela and his team did the best they could – it is the current generation that is failing to take the country forward.
Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba is failing to turn the city around and is blaming foreigners.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has also blamed foreigners for our dismal healthcare system, saying they put a burden on the country’s hospitals.
And, when President Cyril Ramaphosa realised that his lacklustre vision was failing to inspire people to support him, he joined the evil chorus to attack defenceless foreigners.
According to reports, the police unleashed the might of the state against them, and residents in Durban attacked Malawians and burnt their properties down.
This is extreme hypocrisy coming from someone who led the peaceful negotiations and reassured white people of peace and forgiveness at Codesa. It is a sign of self-hate that is prevalent among most black people, and is a sign of the black doubt that characterises the ANC.
If South Africans want to build a successful nation in the fourth industrial revolution, we must reflect and accept that we squandered a rich legacy.
We must elect inventive and courageous visionaries into positions of leadership, and not spineless people who’d prefer to swim in the sewage of popularity.
Mandela was never afraid of taking the unpopular stance. He stopped the violence against izidlamlilo and firebrands such as Harry Gwala. He negotiated with amabhunu when it was highly unpopular to do so.
Courage is what moves the world forward. For centuries, Europeans feared that the tomato, which is a product of the Mesoamerican agricultural revolution, was a poisonous apple.
Today, it is the main ingredient in many salads and sauces. The Mesoamericans tamed not just our staple food, mealies, but also the avocado, which has become a ubiquitous delicacy in southern Africa and the world.
What is this generation contributing to the future of the world?
Kuzwayo is the co-founder of Ignitive, an advertising agency
