Two stand-out moments this week moved the needle on performative and obscene displays of wealth on the red carpet.
The first was the tearjerker of a young University of KwaZulu-Natal graduate who walked across the red carpet on stage without a new or “classy” dress and captured the hearts of many South Africans after an emotional moment with her mother at her graduation ceremony.
Twenty-four-year-old Nokuthula Dlamini and her mother’s tearful embrace after being capped resonated with ordinary South Africans because it highlighted the young woman’s achievement and the financial struggles behind it.
The sociology graduate who earned her honours was raised by a single mother, an informal trader, and said she didn’t want to trouble her mother for a new graduation outfit because she knew how dire the situation was at home.
It has become a debt-inducing norm to splurge on celebrations — thousands on make-up, hair and nails; a new ensemble; pre- and post-drinks; and a photoshoot.
No doubt the celebrations are justifiable to commemorate the momentous achievement; however, the sheer extravagance for many who can ill afford to play into the grad hype is the issue.
Dlamini explained her emotions were driven by gratitude to a lecturer who helped her secure accommodation and her roommate who helped with food and basic needs as well as the joy of making her mother proud.
The lessons from Dlamini and Mamdani are worth noting given our consumerist obsession in a bleak economy.
The story about the lack of access to education or the struggle to finish a qualification in the face of economic restraints is all too familiar, and so Dlamini’s success story — and her modesty — is another dig at the heart of South Africa’s post-apartheid promise to fund millions of poor and working-class students.
The decision to place the National Student Financial Aid Scheme under administration again is a telling indictment of the state’s dysfunction and repeated failure to protect one of its most critical institutions.
But Dlamini’s defiance in the face of adversity is a glimmer of hope that, in spite of the administrative bungle and the greed of unscrupulous exploiters of the system, the country’s future leaders are chipping away at generational chains subjugating their ascent.
Earlier in the week, New York mayor Zohran Mamdani’s wide berth of the Met Gala — known as “fashion’s biggest night”, bringing together celebrities, designers and cultural icons to attend the R1.6m invite-only fundraising benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute — made an important statement.
He declined the invite, saying he wanted to focus on affordability issues affecting ordinary New Yorkers rather than attend one of the world’s most exclusive celebrity events at a time when many residents are struggling with the rising cost of living.
Of course his decision may have been backed by political symbolism, seeing one of the sponsors and honorary chairs is billionaire Jeff Bezos. Mamdani has criticised extreme wealth inequality and has advocated for higher taxes on the uber-rich in the state.
The mayor did, however, use the opportunity to shine a light on the “thousands of workers behind the scenes, seamstresses, tailors, retail workers, and delivery drivers whose immense talent and dedication deserve to be celebrated”.
The politician’s refusal to participate in what critics often describe as a display of excess wealth and celebrity elitism and instead choosing to focus on working-class issues is a refreshing change of pace.
The lessons from Dlamini and Mamdani are worth noting given our consumerist obsession in a bleak economy.
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