Many ordinary South Africans, frozen in despair amid the crushing waves of government and political leaders' corruption, unchecked lawlessness and callousness, question whether they as ordinary individuals, seemingly so small, uninfluential and powerless, can do anything to reverse South Africa's slide.
The challenge for disheartened South Africans is not to plunge into despair, defeatism or cynicism.
The first thing to do is to retain the hope that things can be turned around, however wretched they may appear now.
As the US writer Rebecca Solnit so convincingly argues in another context, hope doesn't mean denying difficult realities. It means "facing them and addressing them", and acting on them.South Africa is facing what can be described as a national depression, with the society in collective despair, while the national leaders continue as if all is well.
The instinctive reaction of many who care about their country is to withdraw from public action and turn inwards to immediate family, immediate clan and communities.
Yet what we as individuals do does matter, has an impact and does contribute to change, even if it is not immediately apparent.
Individuals must express their outrage against public corruption, mismanagement and indifferent political leaders.
They can do this by joining protests, signing petitions, complaining against instances of official wrongdoing and persuading others in their immediate spheres of influence to do the same.
They can shame acts of wrongdoing by elected representatives and public officials on social and traditional media, and in their communities.
But individuals should also actively monitor government delivery sites, programmes and individual officials' behaviour.
Those with the financial means must pursue civil actions in courts - or support such efforts - against errant elected representatives and public officials.
Individuals must become more involved in public activities, whether it is sitting on school boards, attending the meetings of local municipalities and challenging the councillors there, or volunteering in community organisations and charities and supporting them with money and time.Individuals must form lobby groups to protest about anything from potholes to corrupt police or laws that do not make sense.
We must support organisations on issues that we believe in: if we agree with a trade union's criticism of something, support it, even if you are ideologically opposed to the idea of trade unions.
Members and supporters of political parties must also hold their leaders and parties more accountable, whether it is the ANC or working to make opposition parties more credible.
Responsible ANC members must do more to make the party more responsible, and elect more responsible leaders.
More privileged individuals must do more to educate the less fortunate about their democratic rights, and provide alternative information about what is happening in the country when the poor rely on biased "official" information sources.
South Africans of all colours with financial means should show greater social solidarity, compassion and empathy with historically disadvantaged individuals and communities.
They must not lose what the philosopher Martha Nussbaum calls the "capacity for goodness".
There has to be a greater understanding that many historically disadvantaged individuals are trapped in poverty, marginalisation and unemployment ghettos due to the traumatic apartheid legacy of mass deprivation of knowledge, skills and confidence, and the failure of the post-1994 government to begin to undo this, beyond among a few newly privileged elite.Skilled South Africans who want to can help in poorer communities.
Volunteering to teach in a poor school, whether it is mathematics, life skills or a sporting skill, will make a difference.
Retired professionals could teach or mentor a child in Soweto, Umlazi, Alexandra or Khayelitsha. For example, medical doctors can volunteer their services, and lawyers can provide legal help to vulnerable individuals and communities.
They can pay for the education of the children of their domestic worker. Privileged individuals could give their domestic workers industrially useful practical skills - driving, first aid or vocational training.
They could adopt a child's education in the township or adopt a township family through regularly helping.
Privileged schools can adopt or twin with poor township schools, with teachers from the well-resourced one teaching at the poorer school, and richer parents volunteering at the poorer school.
Former pupils of embattled township schools and residents of neglected townships and informal settlements who are now financially well-off must contribute to their old schools, townships and informal settlements, whether by mentoring or sponsoring poor children and families, and giving access to their networks.Individuals in public and private companies must act in an exemplary manner, even if it appears that large numbers of their peers are corrupt, indifferent and incompetent.
In the absence of responsible political leaders, then corporate, civil and church leaders must provide alternative models of responsible leadership. This means they should not knowingly behave corruptly, abuse public resources or exploit vulnerable customers, communities and the environment.
In this way we can get through the current national depression together, and refocus on achieving our potential.
Gumede is associate professor in the School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand. His latest book is 'Restless Nation: Making Sense of Troubled Times'..