Celebrate what we have in common

IT IS UNDERSTANDABLE some people may gnash their teeth in anger at the frivolous objection that has been raised against plans to celebrate Diwali at King Goodwill Zwelithini’s royal palace later this month.

The initiative is a positive and exemplary gesture that promises to promote and encourage intercultural understanding and tolerance.

Even more significant is the fact that Diwali is a celebration of the triumph of good over evil and such interaction will promote social cohesion in the country.

The real question to ask, is: is such an objection really something worth getting stressed over? Shouldn’t we rather take such a nonsensical remark from whence it comes?

Phumlani Mfeka, who drew howls of anger at claims that holding a Hindu festival at the Zulu royal palace would be degrading the throne, is one of the most racially divisive characters in the country.

He is notorious for his controversial and racist utterances in public. Racial baiting is his mission and his goal is clearly aimed at promoting racial discord between communities.

While we accept that people have a right to their own points of view, we should be wary about giving people like Mfeka a platform to expound such divisive rubbish.

We have come from a painful past in which race, colour and religion were used as tools to separate people on an artificial basis. Now is the time to undo these evils. South Africans should be proud to have witnessed so many laudable efforts at racial tolerance since 1994, initiated and championed by our former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Nelson Mandela.

Mandela knew the country’s salvation lay in bringing together people who were rendered strangers to each other through enforced separation. He was not afraid to reach out even to those who had supported and benefited from apartheid in the past.

Even at a local level, campaigns are being held to promote better relations between communities in different provinces. An encouraging example is businessman Vivian Reddy’s campaign to support closer ties between the communities of Phoenix and KwaMashu in Durban.

On the religious side, the Denis Hurley Centre plays a sterling role in interfaith cohesion by hosting gatherings in which people can learn about practices, customs and norms in other religions.

We can build a better country if we concentrate our energies on what we have in common, not what divides us.