Thousands of athletes will be hitting the road this weekend for the Comrades Marathon, having prepared months and years for the world’s oldest and largest ultra-marathon.
As many as 2,354 international runners from 84 countries will join local racers in this year’s Down Hill run from Pietermaritzburg City Hall to Kingsmead Stadium in Durban. They will run more than 87km within 12 hours.
Countless personal journeys of struggle, determination and victory will be lived, an echo of the larger experience facing SA as a nation.
Though these athletes will often be running alone, they are not really. To succeed you need a team.
You need mentors who believe in you. You need coaches who get the best out of you. You need people to run alongside you and offer perspective. You need loved ones cheering you on.
This is a lesson to those in power: to conquer you need a skilled and hardworking team.
SA faces myriad problems, from unemployment, crime and an energy crisis to cholera outbreaks, water issues, potholes and housing shortages.
For many living in this country, the hill is high and the road of survival long. Much longer than 87.7km.
Instead, coalitions have collapsed, realigned, collapsed and realigned again. All the while, the plight of those they profess to serve gets more and more desperate.
The infighting, deflection and name-calling that so often characterise politics in SA have left many cities in decay. Service delivery takes a backseat to politicking and power grabs.
Those who headed to the polls in 2021 put an X next to the party they thought would change their circumstances. They knew it would likely mean those parties would have to team up with others to make it happen, but they trusted the politicians in charge would act like adults and work together to get things done. After all, isn’t that what adults should do?
Instead, coalitions have collapsed, realigned, collapsed and realigned again. All the while, the plight of those they profess to serve gets more and more desperate.
They would do well to learn from those athletes who will line up in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday about working together. If they pay close attention, they will realise that a success for one in the race is a success for all. They will realise you cannot overcome your struggles without someone by your side. They will realise that if you aim for glory without putting in the work, you won’t even make it to Polly Shortts.
Likewise, we need to work together as citizens, the private sector and the government to turn SA’s many crises around. Citizens who destroy or steal vital infrastructure, sometimes out of frustration, are no different from government officials who wait for their palms to be greased before they start doing their duties. Those who complain without taking up opportunities to improve their community are no different from those who heckle in parliament.
The private sector cannot continue to trade in a country it does not directly invest its money and resources in. We all need to put skin in the game.
There will be long roads ahead, steep ascends, tired legs and bleeding soles, but we can do it.
Let us strip off the extra weight of red tape when needed, accelerate on projects that work and decelerate on excuses.
We need to steady our expectations, make consistency our rhythm and accountability our communication.
Only then will we be able to find the pace needed to run the road to recovery.
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