Comments on: ANC’s placating Malema at its own peril

By: Rose Morrow

Rose Morrow — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 08:43:04 +0000

Bill Rogers – that is what I call facing the reality. Very wise! There are always consequences for actions – good and bad. Even if a victim’s family forgives the perpetrator for murdering their loved one – that murderer still has to serve a jail sentence, even if he or she is remorseful, repentant and begging forgiveness. It will take time to heal the wounds, pain and injustice visited on the millions during apartheid. However, it doesn’t help when the provocative, self-serving Malema sings very inflamatory hate songs to divert attention away from his ill gotten millions and the dubious position in which he finds himself. Equally it doesn’t help when self serving previously advantaged make a fuss about a street name or town name that is to be changed because the person it honours slaughtered/denigrated/insulted or enslaved the indigenous people of the area. There is a debt to be paid by the previously advantaged, but not with more lives lost in brutal, horrific circumstances -this will only create more pain and hatred amongst another group and they will need another one hundred years to get over their pain. The country can never rise from the ashes in those circumstances – as the saying goes “an eye for an eye will leave everyone blind”. We as South Africans really do have to stop being self serving and start wanting what is best for our country.

By: Bill Rogers

Bill Rogers — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:01:51 +0000

@pieinthesky

You said, ‘It will take at least 40 years for this underlying hatred of whites to disappear. Too many leaders in the ANC are unwilling to “forgive and forget” what happened in the past.’

In the 1970s I was uprooted from the ‘last outpost of the British Empire’ (Durban) where I had not learned to speak a word of Afrikaans and deposited in an Afrikaans-medium school after my late father took a transfer on promotion to where there was no English-medium school. I was subjected to abuse and vilification at the hands of my fellow primary school pupils because of the hatred for the Rooinek
handed down from generation to generation, more than seventy years after the Boer War. How much longer do you think hatred for whites will linger among the black population if irresponsible elements persist in fanning racism and promoting violence?

I am under no illusion that all in South Africa will forgive and forget the atrocity which was Apartheid within a hundred years let alone forty. The best we can hope for is that the Constitution will be respected and the law obeyed so that a peaceful and integrated community can evolve in due course.

By: Rose Morrow

Rose Morrow — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:20:24 +0000

Pieinthesky – I get your point – it would be great if we could wave a magic wand to wipe out all the injustices, pain and loss of loved ones from the hearts and minds of all the people who suffered under apartheid and miraculously brought each of them to a place of forgiveness and forgetfulness. But then I think of just how very difficult it is to “forgive and forget” when, having been married for forty five years you discover your husband has been having and affair for fifteen of those years. It is not a personal experience but a very close friend is in just those shoes. She is a deeply committed Christian and every fibre of her being is crying out for her to forget and move on -but that betrayed heart and mind, three years on, just won’t let her do it – and she cannot find trust anywhere in her soul. It sounds dramatic and it is – easy to say forgive, forget and move on if you haven’t stood in those shoes…. it would be great if we could all forgive and forget and move on, including those of us who have suffered the loss of loved ones to brutal crimes committed in recent years. It’s a tough one – necessary and best for the country if we could – but damn hard for sure.

By: Pieinthesky

Pieinthesky — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 09:39:28 +0000

It will take at least 40 years for this underlying hatred of whites to disappear. Too many leaders in the ANC are unwilling to “forgive and forget” what happened in the past. The likes of “JM” comes to mind. They are hell-bent on extracting revenge. A victory earned in blood, will only suffice. Even if their actions result in the total destruction of South Africa, this bears no consequence. Hence, the beginning of the demeaning of Mandela. The cloak of protection is beginning to wear thin. Whites beware!

By: Neil Parker

Neil Parker — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 05:25:59 +0000

Whilst it’s quite normal for politicians to address university students, one might expect the ANC to ‘deploy’ the best and the brightest in that direction. For me there’s some kind of incongruity in ‘deploying’ Julius to speak on University campuses. But then again as the old saying goes: “Empty barrels …”

By: MLH

MLH — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:13:30 +0000

JM’s job is to explain to protesting students who demand free education why the ANC cannot give it to them. He should make whatever excuses he likes, as long as they lie at the ANC’s feet. JZ’s job is to apologise profusely for not being able to keep an election promise. He should make whatever excuses he likes, as long as they lie at the ANC’s feet. One thing is certain, it is not the fault of white students that this has happened; targeting them merely shows that too few ANCYL protesters are just not bright enough to understand cause and effect. So why should they be considered for tertiary education at all?

By: ToniBenoni

ToniBenoni — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:49:02 +0000

Julius appears to be sharing what the party actually believes to be the truth. Some time back then deputy minister of mining Lulu Xingwana made it clear that her role was to “right the wrongs of 350 years of oppression” she went on, uncensored as minister of agriculture to suggest the sate just take land – Julius is articulating exactly this sentiment but without the gloss over. We are just too scared to face up to the facts – white people are tolerated, not welcome in South Africa… get used to it.

By: Janine

Janine — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:00:50 +0000

Well said @Siobhan. @RogerP I hope you’re right. In fact, well said everyone. It’s a huge relief to read so many people talking sense – phew!

By: John EveryMan

John EveryMan — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:55:53 +0000

More and more Malema in his brazen and confrontation style resembles old style extremists like PW Botha who gained great popularity among Afrikaners in 1964 with statements like: “I am one of those who believe that there is no permanent home for even a section of the Bantu in the white area of South Africa and the destiny of South Africa depends on this essential point. If the principle of permanent residence for the black man in the area of the white is accepted then it is the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it in this country.” Of course Malema is a better man than the ruthless and closed-minded Botha but we should be careful of how such Botha-like-populism and Botha-like-statements about violence can bend the state and her people to violence.

By: Yusuf Magombo

Yusuf Magombo — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:44:38 +0000

As I’ve said before – “Welcome to Africa!”