The current reaction to Naledi Pandor’s youth pledge is another in a long line of negativity that seems to be infesting the white population at present. There seems to be this constant knee-jerk reaction of intense negativity that should not continue unchecked. Rational thought has to prevail in the face of seemingly mindless Pavlovian response.
First of all, let’s have a look at it. The pledge as it stands currently is as such:
“We the youth of South Africa, recognising the injustices of our past, honour those who suffered and sacrificed for justice and freedom.
“We will respect and protect the dignity of each person, and stand up for justice.
“We sincerely declare that we shall uphold the rights and values of our Constitution and promise to act in accordance with the duties and responsibilities that flow from these rights.”
Read it again, and perhaps again, and once more for luck. Please tell me what is in there that is so horrendously controversial. So far, the overwhelming number of arguments have centred on the first line, the fact that there is a call to recognise the injustices of the past, and to honour those that fought for freedom. In a plethora of written and oral arguments over our newsprint and airwaves, hundreds of almost exclusively middle-aged white respondents have deplored this line. How so, because there were no injustices in our past? Because apartheid was just? Or is it because those that fought for freedom were “terrorists” that should not be celebrated?
Many have argued that this first line “drags up the past”. I’m sorry, but if people think it’s logical to sweep 50 years of oppression under the carpet after just more than a decade, they are sadly naive. Sorting out the problems caused by apartheid is a double generational challenge, not a project completed in a few years. It is a challenge that we have to face as a country, together.
To pretend that rebuilding 80% of the country’s population that was physically, mentally and legally oppressed for half a century is something that “should have been sorted out by now” is so disingenuous it’s laughable. It constantly amazes me how this is not more obvious to many previously advantaged people. To them, apartheid was something that “they did not support”, that they “did not benefit from” and that should just be forgotten now that everyone’s free, and we should all carry on regardless as if nothing had happened.
Personally, I think most of the youth of South Africa, from every racial group, need much more respect for the battle that more than three-quarters of our population fought for freedom. It provides a significantly more empathetic view of the country that we live in than the “let’s just forget about the past and pretend like nothing happened” camp.
It seems to me that the very people who stand on soapboxes and decry the “slide into depravity” and the “destruction of morality” in our country are the same people who are now finding such adjectives as “insipid” and “racist” to describe this call to morals that the pledge represents.
In announcing the antecedents of the pledge, Naledi Pandor explained that the purpose was to try to align the youth’s vision to the values inherent in the Constitution. Our Constitution has been described as the freest in the world, and perhaps the most liberal. It strives to protects rights in a way that few other countries’ can pretend to match, and seeks to uphold values that are universal. Surely our country, and perhaps more importantly our youth, could use more of a commitment to these ideals right now?
I would be completely unfazed if the majority of the concerns over the pledge were about the fact that it is something that the government is considering making compulsory. The decision on whether your child should be taking a pledge — any pledge — is something in which I should hope parents would want a say. However, this seems to be the concern only of a vast minority of the comments carried in call-in shows and letters pages across our media. (As an aside, this pledge is not something being forced on to the public in its current form; it is something that is being presented by our education minister for 30 days of debate and comment, after which a decision will be taken on it.)
What does faze me, however, is the fact that in my experience over the past few days there has been an outcry from one section of the public, centred on one line that, in my mind, should be a given. The sooner the white population understands that this country’s population endured 50 years of racist oppression, and that this isn’t something that’s going to be forgotten with a pat on the head and a box of chocolates, the better.
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in” (greek proverb). Introducing a pledge is such an investment in the future. Sure there are urgent issues that must be addressed now, but these current failures actually highlight the need to make strategic long term interventions for the future.
For all of their many, many faults and naivety one must admire the strong patriotism and beliefs of the American people. This comes about to a large part because of their “Pledge of Allegiance” recited proudly daily by school children and by adults at many public events.
I am fully in support of a pledge in whatever form it finally takes, though personally I believe the reference to past injustices must remain.
I am a “middle aged white male” who is committed to this country and is involved in my community, in local politics and in service delivery. I don’t sit and whine I go out and make a difference.
What will happen to the kid who refuses to make the pledge?
Flash forward to 2020 – biggest selling CD will be Pink Floyd: The Wall
‘Black Middle Class Voice’ says it all when she states for the record;
‘Underneathe the cloak, the is a monster among us. Can’t wait for the day.’
This is precisely the day that many a right wing activist is waiting for. It is the day that these citizens have determined to implement the prophecy of thier beloved ‘Siener van Rensberg’.
Do not for a moment believe that the struggle for power is over sister.
Although our government enjoys democratic power, they do not have an army, nor do they by any means control the economy.
We had better be a little more educated in terms of knowing the real threat that lies under the cloak because it is not us that hold the real power here sister. So we had better be a little wise in understanding our leaders vision. After all, we never ‘Won’ a war against apartheid. We were diplomatically and democratically intergarated with a nation of really strong minded and clever people. They are still here and although they have changed in order to accomodate the new order, they have never forgotten that the reigns of power were handed over for the benefit of all, not some, based on skin colour.
I personally no have issue with the pledge except that I do not believe it goes far enough. We should consider drafting an affidavit affirming our allegiance – suitable for framing after being sworn in front of a commissioner of oaths.
To take this concept even further, I would not object if all police stations had a “Proudly South African” stamp which after swearing a pledge – they could stamp on your ID. No benefits should accrue from having such a stamp but it should be used as an aggravating factor if a person with such a stamp is convicted of a hate crime or any crime that blatantly violates the constitution.
The proposed pledge is to our constitution (which protects the rights of the white minority – of which I am one) and not for the ANC (of which I am not a member). The political disasters of the ANC in the medical/security/energy fields are not errors in the constitution or its application. Politicians will come and go but lets retain that wonderful document.
One correction – it wasn’t 50 years of racist suppression, but more like 300…
Why is it that only two people have recognised that the Pledge is largely taken from the Preamble to the Constitution? The “controversial” lines have been around since the Constitution was adopted in 1996, arrived at by the Constituent Assembly after years of debate. If anyone has a problem with “recognising the injustices of the past”, then they clearly have a problem with the Constitution and should move to Singapore or some other fascist state.
More to the point, I wonder if those who complain about the Pledge have actually read the Constitution?
@Vincent Maher: http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=332465&area=/columnist_levdavid/
…interesting how my hasty review of history echoes a sentiment of one of the M&G columnists?
Hayibo.com takes the mick out of the pledge nicely here. Check out http://www.hayibo.com/articles/view/712
“New school pledge is 73 words long, 72 words more than pupils can memorise.”
Thandi Makwetla, who teaches Liturgical Dancing, functional grade typing and Revisionist Gym at Lilethi Khumalo Secondary, says that most of her pupils are in favour of the pledge, but added that they were “confused and apprehensive about having to learn all those words, especially because we have not yet got to H in the alphabet.”
Tell you what,i like this kind of maturity.if i checked very well this article has been written by a white guy.I support him 150%.The pledge is not about racism.its shaping our children to be responsible citizens of the future.Its about making both black and white children realise that the atrocities committed by former generations are a sorry sight and hence the need to build a united south africa that respects humanity and our beautiful constitution.Those few whites who are bent on opposing the pledge must wake up and realise that the country will never go back to the oppressive regime that sought to place a few individual to be some demi gods of some kind.
A what a good post Jonty Fisher; it displays a sense of humour too.
And it has brought some of the white racists out of the woodpile.
Every body should read also MFB 15th 3:41pm.
A good response to this entire blog.
The balance of this entire post give me heart. South Africa is an exciting place. We may see the true degradation of the stupid white racist revealed here.
The pledge is nothing more than the ongoing campaign by the ANC to deliberately eliminate white history, telling us we are all one, that we must feel guilt about the past etc, while shamelessly exploiting their own past.
This is also seen by name changing. Most of South Africa’s cities and towns were planned, laid out, and built by whites, hence it is not surprising that they were named after various white leaders. However, SA always had place names in the black languages as well. But this is not good enough for the ANC.
They deliberately choose terrorist names to be provocative. They want eliminate white history to make it appear whites did nothing but oppress others. In the pledge whites must acknowledge oppression.
The names they increasingly choose are third world terrorists and ANC ‘heroes’. Even names of non-political white Victoria Cross holders are slated for elimination. They replace these with names like Andrew Zondo Road, a terrorist bomber who killed five innocent people, 2 women and 3 children. Another proposal is named after an armed robber, murderer and rapist: S’bu Mkhize,
Even Mangosuthu Buthelezi has cautioned about “gloating” and “disdainful” behaviour by the ANC, and their “airbrushing” certain groups out of history. He acknowledges that a part of South Africa’s linguistic and cultural heritage traces its roots to white Africans”.
Now they force a pledge which is akin to asking the Boers to swearing allegiance to the Queen in 1902. What can they expect but resentment?
But dictatorial leaders never learn from history.
When the ANC came to power, they had a chance to make all the peoples feel welcome. Instead, they advanced only the interests of their own people at the expense of all others. And as surely as night follows day, this leads to still further resentment, bitterness, animosity, anger, and eventually, bloodshed. Now they wonder why there is increased racism.
Now as people see themselves marginalised, their history eradicated, their people murdered and raped, inevitably, there will be a backlash. It may not occur this year, or next year, or a decade from now, or two decades. But it will inevitably come. This is the nature of men everywhere.
They want to make a SWAPO road, which is a slap in the face to every former SADF soldier. Swapo conducted a terror campaign. It would be like the Nats calling the capital of Transkei Verwoerdburg.
What is even more deceitful is they submerge us with pledges and name changes so if eventually only some are accepted they can say they compromised and ‘consulted’.
The only good thing to say is that all the deterioration of our cities under ANC mismanagement will not be linked to the names of those whites who worked so hard to buold this nation. The disasters which these cities have become,the rubbish in the streets, the crime and grime, the traffic lights that don’t work, the poor starving street children, the prostitutes and pimps etc will be linked to ANC’s “heroes” that we pledge allegiance to.
And they expect allegiance when the mayor of Standerton, orders the Great Trek Memorial Stone destroyed.
Everywhere they turn the ANC is faced with the evidence of white achievement. It fills them with envy and hatred as they have done nothing that equals or excels our achievements.
Th ANC is interested in preserving only its terrorist campaign against the previous white government, and we must pledge allegiance to it.
This deliberate destruction of the history and monuments of white South Africans, is only going to breed bitterness, resentment, and eventually – rebellion.
All white South Africans should wake up and take notice, and stand up for what is right, by making use of all legal methods to tell the ANC “Thus far and no further! We are citizens of this country with a right to live here in our own culture, without built in guilt inherent in the pledge.
And so the paper war rages on,
Nombini Mahlobpgoane,bemoanes the fact that whites
wont grasp his outstretched hand and tells us
politely to f-off.
Now I was always under the impression that is what
some of the indigenous tibes told other black
tribes during the Mfecane.No it is not that this
took place a thousands years ago, o no it took
place between 1800 and 1840,surprisingly almost
a 150 years after those awful whites landed here.
I think it is a bit late to tell us to f-off
because the west is not so keen to be burdened
with another 4m. or so displaced people or was
your advice only to those who dare to speak
their mind and expose your blatant disregard
what happened to them well after the Mfecane.
No sir I reckon it is time for you to go and
read some unbiased history books and pledge not
to come back and write another load of rubbish.
By the way some have taken your advice and find
it strange that the government is now launching
a campaing to bring them back.
Afrodisiac seems to forget that some tribes in
the east happily participated in the slave trade
and more astonishing the Arabs led the slave trade.
So to condemn the whites as the only perpetrators
sounds from where I am sitting a bit one sided
dont you hink so?
@ Nozibele.
You are obviously out of touch with the relevance of our past in this era. I encourage you to take a hike and shoot straight to Germany. Where were people like you during the TRC process. What are people like you doing with the 6 volume TRC report. Find a book called “Repairing the irrepairable” or “No future without forgiveness” to mention a few. You will probably get a better idea of what it is to be a young South African today.
A lot from the minority have adventurously challenged the pledge as it reminds them of the reality of their coming. I am young Accountant and of course black and I have learned my history fairly well it is because of that that I can walk freely in the streets of Hatfield at night without fear of bumping into some white guy who will demand a pass from me or else….
Consulting engineer I am sure that you can make some money abroad so do like wise. We have enough of yous here.
The good thing is that my voice will still be louder than all you antiprogress losers. It is called a vote. Come 2009!
@ Robert
You reminded me of a short story called “an oscar for Godfrey”.
To the subscribers to the notion “forget about the past”. You have got a lot to learn.
@Dithabana
So you are one of those ‘whites must leave and go back where they came from’ types? OK, I will, but on condition that Negroes leave southern Africa and give it back to the Capoid peoples (San people) from whom they took it from by force in a genocidal land invasion. The Black Nguni peoples must return to the Cameroun basin, from where they originate.
There were no negroes around to meet out Jan Van Riebeek or check his immigration papers when he arrived. Do you work for Home Affairs to tell us that we must leave?
You can walk at night without fear of robbery?
Since relocation to your native land it is your idea, you emigrate first and lead by example.
Progress? Our schools collpasing, health care, power supply, water supply, crime skyrocketing? Progress towards where? Zimbabwe?
Nkunyana,
Of course you are quite right. Nobody has forgotten the masive failures of Humanity, like Nazism and Horrific leaders like Robert Mugabe and Pol Pot…
Apartheid was certainly not the proudest moment in the History of the world, but face it, its not like the colonial authorities came here and burned down all of our museums, banks and post offices. Its not like they destroyed all of our recorded history and bulldozed our cities along with our communication systems…
Its not like the decendents on the Nguni people are not settlers themselves, bearing in mind that they walked down to South Africa whilst the paler guys arrived here by boat…
Remember too, whilst you are archiving your own convenient history that, the alphabet arrived here on a boat with the skill to build hard surface roads and cooking in steel pots…
I think that people in Government and Goverment departments should be a shining example and say this pledge every day before they start their jobs especially about the stand up for justice part and probably include I will not partake in any criminal activity.
If our own Goverment cant be an example and show us that they have some moral fibre, then all they doing is just banging pots and pans.
@ Draganov and Consulting engineer
You people are all talk. le dintja diipogang megatla: That means I liken you to a dog that barks its own tail.
You just talk to exercise your freedom of speech which you were afforded by the ANC as a “compromise” reached during the predemocracy’s “talk about talk”.
The tied has turned now. Every now and then you will hear and see a black person in the lead. We are steadily taking a bigger and better share of our land and resources which were taken (by your friends) by criminal means from us.
MidaFo,
I am sorry to inform you, but a lot of white people, just under a million have already left the country because the majority of crime committed is sadly by black people. So what if we are racist, that doesn’t mean that we want black people to suffer. Just stop raping our wife’s, our children, stop murdering our friends and family. You can not say that we are the only once who are racist, black people are far more racist than most white people I know.
It is not about the colour of your skin, but the greatness of your heart. Whites were wrong in not sharing the wealth (knowledge) with the black people, but now that has changed. Why are students striking because fees have gone up, that’s the way it works, and do you think that you are going to pay the same amount forever? Please get realistic.
Yes we all have sad past that we have to deal with at the end of the day, but it is what you do with it that counts. Would you not rather share your knowledge to build a stronger nation than condemn it because of its history?
But because we as a nation have forgotten that God is our saviour, we walk down a path that is dangerous and misleading us all to our doom. We all are destroying our future by throughing stones at each other, as if we only want to blame and not do anything about it. But it is harder to forgive and forget than to grow bitter and end up having a war of word. Everyone is suffering, black and white, open your eyes people!
It is not a colour struggle, it is a humanity struggle! You will always have good apples and bad apples. Our mistake is that we let those who harm our friends and families get away with it, because our justice system fails us.
Rather bring back the death penalty for murderers so people can start being more humane and have respect of the lives of others.
@Nkunyana
No one is more talk than the ANC. They love to have Indabas and do nothing, from a village chief upwards, it is part of society. Warra warra.
That is why SA is in the state it is.
To CV,
Your message is so typical of the arrogance shown by the loony left – people are entitled to opinions as long as they mesh with the half-baked emotional claptrap that you believe. You see the world as you’d like it to be, and spit the dummy when anybody points out that it’s not really like that – not at all. Look at your comment:
“You would like to assume that the people who read Thought Leader are well educated intelligent people…my how mistaken I have been.”
These people must be dof, hey, because they don’t agree with you, the intellectual Giant!
I predict now, that if you are white, neither you or your offspring will still be in South Africa in twenty years time.
Neither do the facts.
Nkunyana
Spot on because that is what AA and BEE was designed to achieve.I take that be referring to
‘our land’ you’ll soon be lodging your claim
on all white owned property,because if all ‘our land is all your land’ land invasion of all white
owned property must be just around the corner.
Wena cool down
I suddendly got a feeling that you could be very smart. “spot on” like you would say it I will soon be in a team that will be claiming some of our land somewhere. Let us hope that you are not situated on any of it.
I wonder what means we will deploy this time as our minister of land affairs has faithfully admitted that “the principle of willing buyer and willing seller IS NOT WORKING”
Wena consulting engineer
You certainly sound like one of those “dying horses”. From where I am standing you can be seen but not heard.
Wena smartypants
You sound very insensitive and so ungodly and therefor a bit unfit to mumble the name of God in front of me. Let me remind you that crime by both whites and blacks has left both whites and blacks as victims in all circumstances. So I guess when you say “Just stop raping our wife’s, our children, stop murdering our friends and family” you are refering to the criminals whom can be either whites and/or blacks. It would be very unwise to refer to only one group as the culprits as criminals have no colour.
Nkunyana
If you bring your title deed from the registrar
of deeds (and not some imaginary ( not real but
only created in your mind) ancestor was here first
claim,you have might a case,but untill such time,you have three hopes: No hope: Snowball’s hope and Bob Hope.