When cricketer AB De Villiers broke the South African batting Test record this week he was very quick to thank his teammates and heap praise on his captain. This is not surprising because not only is De Villiers very modest and exceptionally talented, but he is also level headed and realistic.
When cricketer AB De Villiers broke the South African batting Test record this week he was very quick to thank his teammates and heap praise on his captain. This is not surprising because not only is De Villiers very modest and exceptionally talented, but he is also level headed and realistic.
He would not have broken the record without the support of his teammates and he would certainly have fallen short of the record if his team captain, and previous record holder, had decided to act selfishly. The cricketers gave us yet another example to illustrate the old maxim ‘unity is strength’.
It is therefore interesting to compare the two controversies mentioned on the cover of this newspaper: the first one concerns the dispute about changing the name of Grahamstown; and the second is about retaining the seat of the High Court in Grahamstown.
The naming debate has sharply divided a relatively small, but influential group of residents who feel strongly about this issue. Discussions about the prospects of changing the name of Grahamstown have frequently degenerated into unpleasant squabbles with neither side being able to muster an argument to convince anyone of the opposing side.
On the other hand, the campaign to keep the seat of the High Court in Grahamstown enjoys widespread support across the board in Makana Municipality. We cannot be sure about the outcomes of these two controversies, but it is reasonable to expect that the decisive actions of the committee to retain the High Court will eventually be successful, but it is likely that the name change debate will continue to fester and divide residents for a long time yet.
Various forms of the old Dutch motto Eendracht maakt macht have been used as rallying calls in many parts of the world from Bulgaria to Brooklyn. It calls on people to put aside their petty differences for the good of the whole – and it usually works for nations and for cricket teams.
But Dutch mottos that were popular in the old South Africa are not very politically correct these days, so perhaps we should look at the original, Latin version of the saying. “Concordia res parvae crescunt" (concord makes small things flourish) might be more appropriate in our case. Grahamstown is a small city that desperately needs to flourish for the good of us all.
