War over Winnie is right out of apartheid playbook
It took Pascale Lamche’s documentary to turn the people against one another. After watching the documentary Winnie last week, we put Nelson Mandela posthumously in the dock, along with many other leaders of the liberation movement.
Populist leaders stood on the podium during Mam Winnie’s funeral, spewing vitriol, using a solemn moment to sow division and hatred among their fellow men. A social media frenzy followed, with voices shouting “sellout, sellout” to Mandela and many other liberation heroes.
I was shocked to read posts on social media where young people were hurling profanities at veterans of the struggle. Amid this furore, nothing was said of the real enemies of the people — the apartheid state and its operatives, most of whom were disgracefully pardoned by the NPA for their crimes against humanity.
I have not seen or heard FW de Klerk’s name, or that of PW Botha, Strijdom, Vlok or even Vlakplaas operatives such as De Kock or Dirk Coetzee. The former Stratcom boss and security branch operative featured in the documentary, Vic McPherson, probably never had to answer for any crimes, and like the rest of his ilk went on to enjoy retirement in some nice, quiet coastal town.
Why do we reserve scorn for our own? The apartheid regime’s divide and rule strategy that was employed during the dark days of apartheid is still alive and well.
As Thabo Mbeki once suggested, we should not allow others to decide for us what to think, write or say. This should galvanise us to research and tell our own stories, and not allow others in their historical revisionism to distort the truth.
No matter the failings, perceived or real, of the ANC and Mandela to honour or recognise the role Mam Winnie played in our struggle, this is no justification for the vilification of our own.
Lwando Norman, Johannesburg
Woo EFF if it helps the economy
There has been much hype about the president pursuing a political relationship with the EFF, triggered by the president’s gravitation towards Juju to stop him from making noises that might scare off potential investors as Ramaphosa sends his pride of lions and pack of leopards to woo international investors.
Putting myself in the president’s shoes, which are too big for me, I would also talk to small and big parties alike to avoid scuppering realistic, sustainable economic development plans.
The investors the president is wooing, while wooing all and sundry, will impact positively on local governance and service delivery. Success will address labour unions’ restlessness, which may otherwise have a negative effect on the drive to attract foreign investment.
Work stoppages are not healthy for any economy and will negatively affect investor confidence in our economy.
The EFF should be wooing the ANC, but even if it is the other way around, it is still in the best interests of the country to lay the ground for the presidential special envoys on foreign investment.
Benjamin Seitisho, QwaQwa
Emerging farmers will reap harvest
Land expropriation without compensation should help to drive and speed up the economic transformation agenda. This must be done by focusing on sharing the land equitably, improving the livelihood of farm dwellers and workers, and providing access to the markets for emerging farmers, irrespective of gender, race and financial status.
It is unthinkable, in the 24th year of democracy, for farmworkers and farm dwellers to still be trapped in labour tenancy. Their lives are still crippled by the chains of discrimination and the restraints of exclusion from economic involvement.
The Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, said that expropriation of land without compensation would ultimately benefit the majority of the country’s citizens by bringing greater diversity in the agricultural sector and fostering social cohesion.
The change in the agricultural sector should not be seen as a political tool but a way to reverse the indignity suffered under the 1913 Native Land Act, and a way to accommodate emerging farmers.
The strong perception driven by critics of land expropriation without compensation is that the roll-out of the policy will disrupt production and food security. This is clear intimidation and a way of undermining the exploited farm dwellers and workers who have been tilling the land for others.
Mpho M Rammutla, Atteridgeville
AfriForum is doing Juju a big favour
AfriForum has decided to prosecute Julius Malema in 2018 for something that happened in 2015. It is only prosecuting him now because of his strong stance on the expropriation of land without compensation.
If AfriForum is doing this in the best interests of the country, then why is it not prosecuting Steinhoff, Tiger Brands, McKinsey and the like?
AfriForum failed to privately prosecute both Grace Mugabe and Duduzane Zuma, so do you honestly think it stands a chance against a carnivore like Malema when it has failed to deal with the herbivores?
AfriForum has just made Malema more popular, exactly what the EFF needed, especially after Jacob Zuma’s exit (the gift that keeps on giving). The EFF is going to ride this wave all the way to the 2019 elections.
Tshoarelo Elroy Sentle, Soweto
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