People often call South Africa multicultural, but that word suggests different worlds living side by side. In truth, most South Africans share the same basic values.

Across race, language, and class, people believe in fairness, merit, and accountability. Polling by the Social Research Foundation (SRF) found that 82.6% of voters, including 80.3% of black South Africans and 96.4% of white South Africans, believe government jobs should go to the best candidate regardless of race. Concurrently, a significant majority of South African’s say the state should buy: “the best services at the best price regardless of the race of the service provider,” with 78.8% of voters agreeing with this statement.

That sense of shared purpose once showed in action. Between 1994 and 2008, under the Mandela and Mbeki governments, the number of employed people grew from 7.9 million to nearly 15 million. It was a decade-and-a-half when the idea of one nation working together felt real and possible.

As Dr Frans Cronje writes: “South Africa is not a society divided against itself...eight-out-of-ten South Africans share a surprising degree of common ground.” We may speak differently, cook differently, and pray differently, but we agree on a wide range of issues.

We should call South Africa what it is: a single civic culture with many voices, united by shared hopes for progress and dignity.