Old flag can bring no good

I REFER to Ismail Moola’s letter “Leave old SA flag alone” (the March 6 to 10).

While the old flag might have been a symbol of esteem for the ruling minority during apartheid, most of our country’s population were vanquished into subhuman living and working conditions during the regime.

The remnants of this are strongly visible today.

As Indian and coloured citizens, we must be bold enough to admit that we were not as fully thrust into the apartheid machinery as our black counterparts.

The deplorable Bantu education which ensured the majority never rose above the labour class; the creation of Bantustans, which cleared the way for prime land ownership for the minority and the subsequent destruction of the indigenous peoples culture and social fabric; and state-funded biological and chemical programmes aimed at stifling the growth of the indigenous population are just a few examples of life under apartheid for the black majority.

It is against this backdrop that the UN declared apartheid a crime against humanity.

Any respectable judiciary will never condone either such callous crimes or its perpetrators.

Hence we cannot take a stance of “let it be” as this amounts to insulting our fallen civil rights martyrs.

Reconciliation is important in moving the country forward.

However, a soft stance on the past injustices creates the inclination among the perpetrators that our law and the government is weak.

This, unfortunately, creates a climate of apathy where people do as they wish. Continued racism in our schools and on white-owned farms, and the waving of the old flag at rugby matches are just some examples of the glaring weakness of our stance on our apartheid past.

A single pointed goal and direction is the way forward for any country; dual flags and national anthems are not getting us anywhere. ANUP MAGAN Johannesburg