# Ukonga: Africa’s Forgotten Blueprint | Sibonisile Ngubane Cossa | TEDxUniversityofJohannesburg

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyyBTVxFiZE
Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/pyyBTVxFiZE
Generated: 2025-11-26T19:05:32.883+00:00

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## Quick Overview

Sibonisile Ngubane Cossa argues that the solution to modern sustainability challenges, particularly for Africans, lies not in new technologies or fear-based statistics, but in returning to ancestral wisdom encapsulated by the concept of 'ukonga,' which means to use sparingly and not waste, reminding people that solutions are often hidden in old, primitive ways of life.

**Key Points:**
- The speaker contrasts her current work in PR/communications, focused on convincing consumers to buy unnecessary products, with the inherent sustainability practices she witnessed growing up.
- She identifies common household practices like using a coffee tin for sugar or wearing hand-me-down shoes as examples of sustainability long before it became a trendy term.
- Sustainability, as understood from her upbringing, means 'to use sparingly, to not waste, to consume while keeping in mind those that are still to come,' summarizing reduce, reuse, recycle.
- Cossa asserts that the current sustainability crisis was created by humanity's 'deviation from what truly matters,' not by ignorance or lack of education.
- She questions the effectiveness of scaring masses with doom and gloom statistics, suggesting the solution is reminding people of what their ancestors knew: that the land is sacred.
- The core concept introduced is 'ukonga,' which means going back to being a people who do not take more than what they need.
- She concludes that some answers sought in new technologies are already hidden in old and primitive ways, emphasizing that the future is best shaped by the wisdom of the past.

**Context:** Sibonisile Ngubane Cossa shares her personal journey from working in high-level PR and communications, feeling disillusioned by the focus on superficial brand competition, to discovering that the answers to modern sustainability crises are rooted in African ancestral practices. She uses relatable anecdotes from her childhood, like finding tea bags reserved for special guests or tins repurposed for sugar, to illustrate how concepts like reduce, reuse, and recycle were naturally integrated into her life before they became formal concepts.

## Detailed Analysis

Sibonisile Ngubane Cossa delivers a TEDx talk asserting that African ancestral knowledge holds the key to effective sustainability, a concept she terms 'ukonga.' After a decade in PR, feeling empty promoting unnecessary consumption, she was advised to enter sustainability marketing, initially dismissing it as a foreign concept, until realizing she was raised by its principles. She argues that practices like reusing containers (coffee tin for sugar) and sustainable fashion (hand-me-down shoes) were commonplace, embodying reduction and reuse. Cossa contends that the current crisis stems from a deviation from these core values, not a lack of education, and that fear-based statistics fail to engage the masses. Instead, she advocates for reconnecting with the belief that 'the land is sacred' and that communal philosophies like 'I am because you are' must guide future action. Ukonga, meaning to use sparingly and keep future generations in mind, represents the necessary return to mindful consumption that will shape a sustainable future using the wisdom of the past.

### Speaker's Professional Disillusionment

- Worked over a decade in PR/communications, holding titles like head of PR and business unit director
- Felt tired of 'fluffy no impact work' convincing people to buy products they do not need
- Questioned strategies focused only on outshining competitors.

### Childhood Anecdotes as Sustainability Examples

- Recounts finding sugar in a coffee tin and tea bags reserved for special guests, illustrating scarcity and careful resource allocation
- These experiences taught her lessons about resourcefulness that preceded formal sustainability education.

### Defining Ukonga and Ancestral Wisdom

- Ukonga means 'to use sparingly, to not waste, to consume while keeping in mind those that are still to come'
- This aligns with reduce, reuse, recycle principles practiced naturally in many black households.

### Critique of Modern Sustainability Approaches

- Argues that the crisis was built by 'our deviation from what truly matters,' not ignorance or lack of education
- Suggests that scaring people with doom and gloom statistics is ineffective for mass adoption.

### Call to Action and Conclusion

- Advocates for meeting future demands by returning to reverence for the land and communal living philosophies
- States that solutions are hidden in 'old and primitive ways' and that 'the future we are trying to build is best shaped by the wisdom of our past.'