The Covenant of ESAF, Forged in the Spirit of All Our Ancestors
4th December 2025
3:20 am
Mzansi
To the Beloved People of South Africa, and to my respected colleagues,
My name is Whalid Safodien. I am not a politician. I am a bridge builder. And I present to you the living covenant of Empowering South Africa’s Future (ESAF).
ESAF is not a political entity. It is a pledge written on the collective heart of this nation. Our allegiance is absolute: to the child who goes to bed hungry, to the graduate holding a worthless certificate, to the grandmother fearing the knock at the gate, to every South African whose dignity has been stolen by empty promises. We will support any party, any leader, any community effort—without prejudice—that puts food in mouths, knowledge in minds, and solid work in hands. Our only metric is the restoration of human worth.
My vision is a disciplined, generative economy, free from the terror of lawlessness. A nation where every person is equipped, through skill and unwavering character, to build a life and sustain a community. We seek to build not just a working state, but a thinking, compassionate, and self-reliant society.
This demands a new kind of leadership. I am actively seeking leaders—especially the mothers, the daughters, the sisters—to step forward and guide this nation, with men offering steadfast support. This is not a modern trend; it is a return to a foundational truth. We must remember that our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the Al-Ameen (the Trustworthy One), honored his first wife, Khadijah, his employer and pillar. Her wisdom and trust were the bedrock upon which a new dawn was built.
As men, we are called to the standard of the great prophets: Moses (Musa), standing before tyranny with a staff of truth; Jesus (Isa), healing the sick and embracing the outcast; Abraham (Ibrahim), building altars of faith for all humanity. These were men of supreme principle, charged with lifting people from darkness.
But this charge—this sacred, driving force—has many names, and it has always whispered here, in the land of our birth.
In the Christian tradition, it is the Holy Spirit (Rūḥ al-Qudus)—the Comforter, the Advocate, the breath of God that teaches and empowers (John 14:26), bearing fruits of love, joy, and peace (Galatians 5:22).
In the Quran, it is the Rūḥ al-Qudus—the Spirit of Holiness, a Spirit from God that brings revelation, strength, and truth, as when God says, “...and We supported Jesus, son of Mary, with the Holy Spirit” (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:87).
And in the sacred traditions of the First Peoples of this soil, this same force is the vital breath of creation.
It is //Kaggen’s cunning wisdom and transformative power for the San, the spirit that dances in the stories of the Mantis and shapes the world.
It is the Amadlozi and Badimo—the ancestral spirits of the Nguni and Sotho peoples. It is the Ubuntu that flows from them: “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu” (I am because we are). This spirit is not a mere concept; it is the living presence of those who came before, who hold the moral fabric of the community, who demand justice and bless the harvest.
It is the sacred connection to the land itself—the Ukuthwasa calling of the sangoma, where the ancestors speak through dreams and sickness to appoint healers. This is the divine spirit acting through the very earth and blood of South Africa.
This is the most profound truth: The Divine Force—whether named Holy Spirit, Rūḥ al-Qudus, the Wisdom of the Ancestors, or the Breath of the Land—is the active, unifying presence that seeks justice, knowledge, and compassion. It filled the lungs of Adam, inspired the Psalms of David, guided the heart of Muhammad, animated the ministry of Jesus, and speaks in the click languages of the First Stories and the deep drums of the ancestral summons. It is the same spirit. It is the source of the courage that says “Mayibuye!” (Let it return!), the love that shares the last loaf of bread, and the clarity that sees a future not of faction, but of family.
Therefore, ESAF is more than a project. It is an invitation to embody this unified, South African spirit. To Christians, Muslims, to the children of the Amadlozi, to all people of conscience: This is our shared ground. It is the spirit that calls us to be true stewards (Khalifah), to live Ubuntu, to build a nation where not a single soul is left behind.
I call upon you—the thinkers, the builders, the healers, the farmers, the mothers who sing old songs to new babies, the fathers teaching respect—to join ESAF. Let us rise above the politics of division and become a nation of architects, guided by the highest examples from all our traditions and empowered by the sacred spirit that dwells in our soil and our souls.
The task is a mountain. But we are summoned by our ancestors, by our prophets, by our very land. Let us build a South Africa that is educated, disciplined, compassionate, and self-sustaining.
Let us honour the legacy of all who walked this path before us, and fulfil the trust of those who will come after.
This is our covenant. This is our duty.
With the highest moral principle I can aspire to,
Whalid Safodien
The Feather Pen
A Servant of South Africa’s Future