I have often heard many an “unreconstructed racist” hasten to add that they have many black friends. In the minds of these people it is clear that your racism or lack thereof, is proportional to the number of friends you have in race groups other than your own.
The subject of race and racism has always been and continues to be a sensitive one in South Africa, this despite our president’s attempts to suppress any discussion and debate on the topic. Recent events have further firmly entrenched in my mind the necessity of a truly broad-based, representative, honest and critical discussion on the state of race and race relations in the country. These have included most prominently the recent debates on national hero and icon Caster Semenya
Standing in front of a class of white Afrikaans-speaking first years in comparative politics yesterday, I was intrigued to hear debates on this issue emanate from the students before the class commenced. The debate was interesting, supportive, and for me, encouraging. What struck me the most was the observation from a male student arguing that for the first time since apartheid, South Africans across the racial divide were fighting a common “enemy” — misconception and discrimination emanating from ignorance and sexism. South Africa was abuzz with discussion and debate expressing disgust over the treatment of and support for Caster.
Anyone following the blogosphere, rants on Facebook, Twitter and discussions in offices, kitchens and living rooms across the country would have been amazed at the level of national consensus on the issue. Sure, there are always lunatic fringes who spew and perpetuate ignorance, but they are generally quite out of touch with the rest of society and thankfully a very small minority. Naturally I was incredibly excited, optimistic and in high spirits over the unity that this unfortunate and unnecessary incident had brought about!
The euphoria was short-lived, sadly. What goes up, must come down, and nobody can crash a party and dash hopes quite as well as Comrade Julius. Not only did his “pointed observation” about the lack of white people at the airport welcoming taint an otherwise good article about the extent of anger among South Africans in the NYTimes; it also confirmed and demonstrated to me that — as much as Zuma may claim he and his ANC are non-racial — Comrade Julius is trapped in and held hostage by an acute racial gaze. It’s sad, almost sick, that someone can stand in a crowd of people in support of a humiliated and unfairly treated athlete and not express gratitude for the level of support but rather survey the demographics of the turnout.
Firstly, I would assume that most people at that time of day would be in on the job. Unless you’re a “professional politician”, you’d probably be in an office or in front of a tutorial class full of first years. Secondly, I don’t know what Julius wanted to see when looking into the crowd. If it was proportional representation — 79.3% black people, 9.1% white people, 9% coloured people and 2.6% Indian — then I would like to know who had conducted a mini and on-the-spot census for him. Thirdly, with Julius probably being chauffeured to the airport in party property, I wonder whether he has ever pondered the difficulty in getting to the airport kilometres outside of Johannesburg and Pretoria. The traffic on the R21 in the morning is — as excited as I am about Caster’s victory — enough to dissuade me from awaiting her arrival. Even more so when considering that all other spectators — apart from the “professional politicians” of course — are treated like normal people at the very busy, very discomforting OR Tambo.
Apart from these logistical issues, I find it disgusting and hypocritical of Julius’s organisation to pack the crowd and then point fingers at how the crowd is packed. Not only, as is true ANC style these days, was “much of the crowd at the airport bussed in by affiliates of the governing African National Congress” but Julius — based on his limited observations — fails to acknowledge the fact that “other political parties sent smaller contingents” (perhaps, again, proportional to their organisational and financial muscle). Julius’s observation therefore clearly reflected a case of ANC crowd mismanagement.
Perhaps this has all just been a huge mistake and the buses full of white people never arrived (see note about R21 traffic above) or all the white folk are still just waiting for the bus. You can’t expect white folk to get on board if you don’t send the bus.
I recommend the ANC revisit their approach to bussing in crowds to ensure that it reflects the gender and racial realities of South African society — a commission of some sort might be helpful. It would surely lead to better crowd management, greater representation of white people and negate the need for Julius to waste so much of his precious time to an on-the-spot census. More worrying is the clear departure from a solid ANC tradition of non-racialism by bussing in more black people than white people, it is truly sad to see a party that has never looked at people in terms of race fail so dismally in bussing in an adequately representative sample of our diverse society.
It is sad that the potential something as unfortunate as the Semenya saga has for exposing and confronting prejudice and ignorance about sex and gender has been hi-jacked and turned into a race issue specifically to castigate white South Africans. Julius, how many white friends do you have?
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38 Responses to “Malema and the white question”
Malema is wrong to accuse whites of racism. But he’s right in saying whites were not there in their numbers to welcome Caster, as they do when they welcome the Springboks. But then again blacks are never there too to welcome the Springboks. Surely, by Malema’s logic we too are racist; which makes the entire country racist! Clearly we have a lot more work to do to unite the country.
Mnr, I take it you just had to write something for the sake of writing . Julius was stating the obvious about whites not being there. You and I know very well that South Africa is a divided country and we are nowhere near getting to the rainbow nations that we claim we are. Has it ever occurred to you that Julius is trying to get us to talk more about the race issues that many are trying very hard to avoid?
Nice try though. I would like to hear what your take is on the latest EE stats released by Jimmy Manyi’s organization lately seeing that you know the Census very well as pointed here “If it was proportional representation — 79.3% black people, 9.1% white people, 9% coloured people and 2.6% Indian”
@TlanchTau: “Jimmy Manyi’s organization”? Really? There is an organisation that belongs to him?
Presumably you mean Tiger Brands, the Black Management Forum or the Commission for Employment Equity, of which he is an employee, deputy president and chairperson, respectively? Not one of these are widely known as “Jimmy Manyi’s organisation” though.
Bentley Price-Moore on August 27th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
I love the liberal use of the words ‘we’ and ‘us’ in relation to this topic.
I don’t have many black friends, nor do I intend making new ones in order to prove something.
And even though I am a hardcore athletics fan - having been to more athletics meetings than Julius has had hot breakfasts, I do not have the slightest desire to go to the airport to ‘meet’ one that I admire. Ditto Bafana, ditto the Springboks and ditto the Pope. “Meeting” at the airport is done very reluctantly and only for your rich Auntie.
Nor do I have a desire to have a discussion about race. I am quite happy and content to live with my thoughts and if that implies to some people that I am therefore a racist, that’s OK too. There’s nothing I can do change their opinions, and quite frankly, it’s not worth the effort.
But what I do think is that this constant and baseless accusation of being racist is giving the real racists a hiding place and ultimately perpetuates racism.
Thanks for the article Marius. Interesting read - and yes - I think Julius blew it (again) too.
Maybe I would have been there if the ANC had offered to bus me there. Alas, any time I take off has to be made up somewhere and my travel costs are borne by yours truly. Even I was prepared to bear those costs, I would still have been the subject of Mr Malema’s venom on account of the colour of my skin
You are creating excuses for the lack of ‘rainbow’ nation to receive the athletes - lecturing, ANC bussing people, traffc etc. Malema’s questions about the not-so-rainbow turnout are correct. Your statistics on demographics are selected only to boost your subjective viewpoint. Why don’t you offer the same analysis using the Employment Equity Commissions report stats published recently?
Your claims about ‘unity’ on this issue in the bloggosphere are bogus. Look no further, just read the polar comments on MG online on each posted story on the Caster issue. There are two polar views represented by Julius and John Robbie:
Julius: Caster is female because her parents know that they gave birth to and raised a girl. Finish and Klaar. No IAAF test are necessary, especially if Caster has been competing for 3 years in IAAF events.
John: It is paramount not to give Caster’s parents the benefit of the doubt but cast and propagate aspersions on Caster’s gender without providing reasonable basis for this doubt. We claim no responsibility for any damage to Caster for casting aspersions. Let’s lay the blame soley on the incompetence of the ASA for not worrying about these doubts. Lest we be called the instigators and callous media people.
As a parent, with a daughter and son, I would not be kind to any media person or journalist even IAAF casting and propagating doubts about the gender of any child at the moment of hard-earned glory.
When Oscar Pistorious was fighting to compete with able-bodied athletes at the Oympics, All South Africans rallied around his cause and did not not embrace the notion that his condition gave him an unfair advantage.
No single South African journalist, radio talk-show host or media house spent energy and effort in casting propadating baseless aspersions. John Robbie himself gave Oscar the benefit of doubt and promoted the idea that Oscar be allowed to participate. Why does John Robbie and the majority of his listener and some journalists , assume an ambivalent stance to a South African athlete?
@ TlanchTau - in my view, there’s a difference between engaging in constructive discussion in order to “talk more about the race issue” and then there’s Julius Malema, who appears to be completely hell-bent on raising the race issue at every opportunity and platform in the most unconstructive and negative way possible. Calling Zille a fake racist girl - is that constructive? Taking a huge positive (Semenya and Mulaudzi winning gold for the country) and turning it into a negative (where are all the whites?) - is that constructive? His comments if anything further alienate whites and as a result their ‘non-appearance’ at such events become a self-fulfilling prophecy – why would I want to go to another welcoming if I know that little Julius will be there who has the potential to make inappropriate comments that would make me feel excluded? I’d rather stay at home then…. Imagine a scenario where someone at a welcoming for a victorious Springbok team says “where are all the blacks?” making those who attend feel somewhat unwelcome?
Marius Redelinghuys’ makes a fair point. The only problem is that we should not have to point out to Malema that generalised criticism against a homogenous group defined by race is in itself racist.
The reality is South Africa is black and white and sport has always highlighted this reality.
Bafana bafana’s welcome blacks turn out in their numbers. Springboks or Proteas’ welcome whites turn out in their numbers
There were few whites at OR Tambo for Caster’s welcome but whites have always out numbered blacks when its Springboks’ or Proteas’. Why Mnr “Alternative Afrikaner”? Don’
I’m sorry I am sooooooo board of the race issue. Its redidulouse. Has it ever occured to Julius, that I A white middle class citizen might have had better things to do with my time, than drive 50Km accross joburg trafic to great come random athlete who until last tuesday I’d never even hear of. Or concider that perhaps its just not im my culture to ever great any random 5 min celebraty at any air port any were. Let me state this for the recored. I just dont care.
Currently Disadvantaged on August 28th, 2009 at 8:41 am
Jesuss, this is the weakest counter argument I have ever heard. Pray tell, why is it that there were so few whites there anyway? They have cars don’t they? And why do they deem it fit to support a countrywoman from behind close doors, in selective conversations and far from anyone? If you show support why did you not rally behind a world champion? ANC is correct in raising and leading the issue of racism.It is their HISTORICAL IDEAL to fight for non-racialism.Every1 else seems to want to maintain the status quo. You must at least agree that there this practise is alive and well even on campuses and student residences. In fact, how do you account for Jummy Manyi’s report when he raises that ‘white’ persons are still favored for promotion and that there are skills amongst ‘blacks’.One cannot deny the fact that we still live in racially skewed areas, One cannot deny the fact that the material conditions for the majority of blacks have not changed,one cannot deny the fact that banking institutions still favour lending and propping up whites. Now one can go on and on. But the point that needs to be made is how do you build NATIONAL UNITY by writing very selective articles and use abstract conversations without speaking to those who are most affected and who articulates racist practises. A white person cannot tell black people that there is NO RACISM. That is disingenuous!
Marius, your writing is so refreshing and intelligent but let me correct you on something, blacks South African citizens(i.e. Africans) comprise 70% of the population, not 79%. The other 8% from North Africa are illegal immigrants and generally do not attend national events or rallies.
South Africa is a country where racial divides still run deep. The issue of Caster, however, does not illustrate this. People of all races stood in support of her. Even though they did not make a special trip to the Airport (millions of us simply wouldn’t fit) they followed her story, they made her a topic of discussion and celebrated her victory in their homes. And now no one will forget her… like they have forgotten whatshisname who won the Gold for the mens 800m and that dude who won Silver for Long Jump
I think we should look at Malema’s observation in a very honest, fair and objective manner. Its a fact that white South Africans did not attend the welcoming ceremony for the reasons better known to them.
Even though Marius is wrong by suggesting that Whites were at work, while scores of blacks were at the airport, your analogy reflects a deaper social problem that faces this country. You are basically implying that black South Africans don’t have much role to play in the economic upliftment of this country.
Not everyone at the airport was a so called “proffesional potilitian” as you suggest. There were many ordinary black South Africans who were so determined to celebrate the victory that put this country in the world map. When Rudgby team became victorious in the world championship, all South Africans including whites were behind them and spoke with one voice of reconciliation.
Good politicians scan the environment and provide solutions that seek to promote the well being of citizens. As an aspiring politician, I would suggest you do the same. Let us forget a bit about our interests as individual groups and focus in healing and uniting the nation.
The issue of race and race relations in this country is a time bomb. The sooner we frankly debate about it and create fertile grounds for the coming generations the better. We can try ignore it but there are deeper racial tensions, and sport can play a bigger role to defuse
Mr Malema is being disingenuous in the extreme. He created political theatre from a sporting event. His question should be why are more white people not part of the ANC - that is a debate worth having.
Oh… and how many ‘homecomings’ (rugby, cricket) has Mr Malema attended - and if not, why not. I also believe some swimmers arrived back recently (with more than two gold medals) - I don’t believe he was there to meet them!
@kitty kat: “One cannot deny the fact that we still live in racially skewed areas, One cannot deny the fact that the material conditions for the majority of blacks have not changed,one cannot deny the fact that banking institutions still favour lending and propping up whites.”
….and why is that???? 15 years into ANC led “democracy” with the power to change almost everything, changing the work place through BEE, and, and, and..
If you sail for the wind and you don’t make progress, can one blame the ship or should one blame the crew?
My 2 cents: please blacks, get off your butts and give the country an efficient government, a hard working bunch of employees and some intelligent and ethical entrepreneurs who refuse to bribe and be bribed.
You might find that many of the issues “you cannot deny” might go away over time.
I do believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel having dealt with the younger generation. We just have to wait till the 40+ generation (and the Malema’s of this world) has moved to greener pastures.
Excuses, denials excuses, very compelling excuses.
The reality is South Africa is black and white and sport has always highlighted this reality.
We need a President that can unite SA nobody is really addressing the race issue in this country people who failed matric in woodwork and math’s and other who never went to school know wanted to debate the race issue.Pres Zuma if you are serious about this beautiful country of us address the colour issue. As is the blacks are superior to the coloureds and whites like in the old apartheid area. The ANC is for blacks only with a few coloureds and whites who are called minority groups by Dr J Malema.BEE and Employment equity is only Africans in particular black people. Where are we leading to Zimbabwe with our next President Dr J Malema?
Why can all of us living in SA not just accept the fact that we are a race obsessed society . We have been so for the last century and will remain so until all the white people eventually leave or are driven out .Let us accept this as a given and plan and run our lives accordingly.
Madoda. You say: “As a parent, with a daughter and son, I would not be kind to any person casting doubts about the gender of any child at the moment of hard-earned glory”. What about if your young son had just been beaten into second place by someone you suspected of cheating? You would have the right to ask for proof of that person’s age and proof that they were not drugged. And I bet you would exercise that right. Think straight and stop this Semenya nonsense already. I fear for Caster’s future with all these “new friends” she has. She should be very very afraid of them.
In the 60’s, the Kingstone Trio had a little song called the Merry Minuet. It went like this:
Theyre rioting in Africa
Theyre starving in Spain
Theres hurricanes in Florida
And Texas needs rain
The whole world is festering with unhappy souls
The French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Poles
Italians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch
AND I DONT LIKE ANYBODY VERY MUCH!!
But we can be tranquil and thankful and proud
For mans been endowed with a mushroom-shaped cloud
And we know for certain that some lovely day
Someone will set the spark off
AND WE WILL ALL BE BLOWN AWAY!!
Theyre rioting in Africa
Theres strife in Iran
What nature does’nt do to us
Will be done by our fellow ‘man’—
The more thihgs change, the more they stay the same . . .
I find it really sad the extent that racism has permeated in South Africa. When one hears the passionate arguments from one race accusing another of being racist just because they weren’t representative at the airport upon the arrival of a sports hero you realise that white people are going to be attacked and discredited at every opportunity regardless of substance or proof.
So what if white people enjoy Rugby more and black people enjoy football and athletics more?
The support received by Caster is great but the support received by Julius, Winnie etc for their comments is disturbing.
Racism is a problem everywhere in the world no matter who tells you different. If we as the self professed Rainbow Nation aim to lead the fight against racism, then let it be that; but this is certainly not the way to go about it. Julius, my brother, your efforts are admirable, but the manner in which you execute your plight is nothing short of dispicable. I, as a black South African cannot and will not be led into a candid prejudicial dispute and certainly not through clownious acts. If the racism in this country eecks you so much then I suggest you get a placard, write a message of solidarity on it and muster up the courage to march with others who feel the same way to parliament or elsewhere until we are united.
Gay people do it every year and through the years have managed to get themselves intergrated into society. It won’t be easy as no prejudicial battle is, but pointing fingers and hurling insults is certainly not the way to go about serving this young nation of ours.
Your antics beg the question as to whether you are sincerely trying to irradicate racism or whether it is you just want to fight against the previous oppressor. Lift a a placard and I will walk that walk with you, but till then… get a life and let us peaceful people be.
Heavens - what a set of responses to what seemed to me to be a reasonable article.
No-one can be in any doubt whatsoever that Julius & the ANC hijacked the airport “event” in order to make a statement. To what end, you might ask??
Who in their right minds can believe that any of the “racist” statements made by Julius and others can help SA make its way out of the historically racist state in which it is mired?
Given his track record, I cannot believe that Malema cares about racism at all - he simply behaves like all aspirational politicians with little real power outside their organisation; he plays to the gallery. His sole aim is to win as much press coverage as possible, thereby consolidating his position. Full stop.
Were he, and all the other politicos taking a similar stance, to take a real leadership view, they would do things very, very differently indeed. It almost makes one think that, by keeping the racism issue alive in the way that they do, they would be lost without it. Shame, shame, shame.
Racism is alive and kicking in South Africa that is a fact and the solution is to be open about it and get all the sectors of our society participating with positive attitudes in finding the common solution, for the best of all.
It is not an issue who is rising the topic ,how much educated Julius ,who raise the topic or not .
Or how much educated are the people or rich who are scared to be open about the issue and use their education level to threaten,silence or embarrasing anyone personally who happenes to raise the issue in question like Malema.
Denial is not a solution and burying such issues under any fears and rhetorics doesnt make a solution for the country , like burrying a lively bomb is not a solution.
The fact is we have racism in our country that we have to deal with because it affects our people.
It is too naive that education turns to work like a drug to the minds of academics to form defences against the realistic environment.
When a poor person is higher on drugs would always deny his real self state of neediness, until the drugs were off from his system. For him to look at his real world as it is.So dont play a man ,play the ball.
Dont make excuses ,find the ways to the problem we have , attitudes adopted by our citizen to treat each other as unwanted,yet sharing the same space.
When Judge Nicholson overturned the case against Zuma, Malema addressed the crowd and demanded the end of Mbeki. Guess what happened? Mbeki was recalled.
When the case against Zuma was reinstated for obvious reasons, Malema started the rush for ‘a political’ settlement and guess what happened? We got a ‘political settlement’ instead of a judicial one and the law failed again in SA as it so often does.
When Malema says what he says, sadly most of his supporters blindly follow him and it makes me wonder who really is running the country. A trail of crazy consequences follow in his footsteps and soon he may well be singing the Zuma Machine Gun song and issuing them to all and sundry to fight racism? Anything is possible with this man as is the case with the ANC.
Vote for the ANC and get more of the same and then protest because you are getting more of the same.
When will this end?
@Bentley Price-Moore on August 27th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
And which one do you think I was pointing to? You also just felt the need to write something for the heck of it.
@Bruce on August 27th, 2009 at 7:27 pm- Jeez man, you are just like the guy above.
@Madoda on August 27th, 2009 at 7:58 pm- Well said Sir.
@David on August 28th, 2009 at 3:08 am- and that’s all you can think about? That all you felt you can comment on, when I said more things there for you talk about?
@Currently Disadvantaged on August 28th, 2009 at 8:41 am-
-There is nothing to listen to when coming to Sentle(whatever), he is just an Mbeki apologist and seeing that Mbeki is no longer here he will obviously try and but the white’s face. What does he have to say about the current EE Stats? I would love to hear him write a blog about that and for once it would be nice if he can write a blog without “Mbeki” in it.
@Phillipa Lipinsky on August 28th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Where did you get those stats?
And finally to the Author here.
I would like to challenge you to write an article on the EE stats that were released by Jimmy Manyi lately. That’s if you really care about reconciliation and healing this race obsessed country of ours.
Do yourself a favour and read what the Sociology of Work Unit (SWOP), a research entity connected to the Wits sociology department have to say about Mr Jimmy Manyi’s report.
SWOP is held in high regard by the government, unions (also Cosatu), so think before you dismiss this report as simply an attack on the “social revolution” in South Africa.
At best the report is unscientific and at worse skewed to that which the ANC agenda requires. There is little hope to find the path to the true Rainbow Nation with people like you and Mr Jimmy Manyi around!
My sincere apologies for being naive in assuming that you are not Australian and are a South African. Because Oscar is a South African I will never seek to cast aspersions on questions relating to the possibility that his condition might disadvantage other athletes.
To make you analogy relavant to the Caster issue, I would assume that my son and daughter has already come second best against the suspected South Afircan ‘cheat’ and I did not raise issues the first time in SA. As a South African, therefore I should not raise issues when he or she competes against Australians. Unless I am a closet Australian living in SA.
You analogy is inappropriate because my bone of contention is not with Caster’s fellow athletes because I do not have qualms with them raising concerns if they have reasonable basis and disclose those basis.
My problem is South African journalists and talk-show presenters, casting baseless aspersions on any child because they want to increase their audience ratings or sell newspapers. Furthermore, drugs here are not an issue. I do not have problems with drug testing in sports. I see no reasonable basis for parents in an African rural setting not being proud of a boy-child and raising him as girl in order to win in IAAF.
Surely, when fellow competitors only raise concerns when they get beaten, the matter should be taken with a pinch of salt because of sour grapes. Caster lost for 3 years.
I dont’t know how South African political parties select people top become their spokespersons, whatever criteria Cope used to select you for your current position; you are proving to be an asset worth the selection. Judging by the response to this article alone, should the party give you the freedom you need to do your thing you will help them cover a bigger ground in a short space of time. I am not a South African and unlike most of my compatriots, I don’t hold a South African official documentation of some sort, but I follow your country’s politics, very seriously. Keep up the good work, education, age, sex and gender are the best assets on your side. My country Lesotho would be blessed to have young people of your calibre.
I felt sorry for the abuse meted out to Semenya. However,whether a sportsperson is female or not depends not on the genital organ but on a hormonal profile carried out in a biochemical laboratory. Any other opinion is false, biased, ignorant and politically skewed. In fact, in Semenya’s interest,a medical expert should investgate the reasons for a potential hormone imbalance. For example, a tumour, no matter how small, may impinge on a gland that produces excess male hormone. Don’t you think that such a medical investigation would be in Semenya’s interest? There is nothing racist about this!
Mr Malema,I was not at the AirportI will never be at the airport on a working dayI justcannot stay away from work.When I am Ill I bring a Docters certificate, otherwise I need to take a days leave and put in an application 48hours MINIMUM before unless for death of IMMEDIATE family taking days leave to welcome somebody I do not even know and evertime somebody wins will leave me no LEAVE Left
to spend with my children once a year,The are MORE Inportant than anybody else to me I am their parent. This girl has parents she is not first to win gold will not be last. YOU SEE THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE WHO WORK IN THIS COUNTRY GOVERNMENT SHOULD EMPLOY PEOPLE LIKE US THEN GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS WILL WORK SERVICE IMPROVE AND CORRUPTION KILLED. HOPE THOSE AT THE AIRPORT WITH MALEMA HAD OFFICIAL LEAVE UNPAID LEAVE,otherwise they should be FIRED BY THEIR boss BECAUSE THERE ARE MANY LIKE ME WHO NEED their JOBS OR WERE THEY ALL UNEMPLOYED SELF EMPLOYED OR like you who does not do a days work to the benefit of anybody but JUST rides around talking nonsense insulting people By the way I am white,woman and I am responsible educated and disciplined If we just stay away it affects my company, fellow employees some BLACK too,we could be without jobs. Company will be closed, If at all u can understand that. Very good article.
@ Ian Shaw, If genital organs are not a proof of sex , which biochemical laboratory did you consult
to find out if your girlfriend ,you live with is a real female according to your lab.based belief?
You sound naive to me, In that way there shall be no body called anything till proven by labs,
As Racists wont be so called until, proven to be mental deranged or psycho imbalanced to equate psychoses, than obvious, racism. Based on racial hatret.
Nobody shall be called anything as if our world has just started to excist following the scientific discoveries.
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Marius Redelinghuys is a 20-something "Alternative Afrikaner" currently pursuing a post-graduate degree in political science at the University of Pretoria as a Mandela Rhodes Scholar (which has made him fortunate enough to be the only member of his family to converse with Tata Madiba). In addition to the academic and mundane, he is the president of Rotaract Pretoria East -- the youth subsidiary of Rotary -- and the Head of Communications of the COPE Youth Movement Tshwane Region, positions in which he lives out "service above self", a passion and commitment instilled during his tenure as youth ambassador in the US.
He is an aspiring academic and politician, who enjoys actively engaging in discussion and debate surrounding issues of racial and social transformation in a post-apartheid South Africa.
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Malema is wrong to accuse whites of racism. But he’s right in saying whites were not there in their numbers to welcome Caster, as they do when they welcome the Springboks. But then again blacks are never there too to welcome the Springboks. Surely, by Malema’s logic we too are racist; which makes the entire country racist! Clearly we have a lot more work to do to unite the country.
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