Recall fight for dignity, justice and respect
Myview
COLONIAL history is full of examples of violence, racism and arrogant and hurtful utterances. Which is why the comment this week by Western Cape premier Helen Zille in which she said colonialism wasn’t all bad elicited such an angry reaction.
By saying what she did, Zille comes over as someone alive with racial bigotry. In her “state of fantasy” she wants us to praise and be thankful for the colonial violence that violated the African and plundered African land.
In this context one can only feel that in democratic South Africa free speech is an abused commodity.
Zille insulted all Africans only to apologise the next day. Maybe she thinks that because Africans are known to be benevolent forgivers everything will be all right.
Must it be that, in the name of national reconciliation and the spirit of Madiba, people like Zille are forgiven and live happily ever after?
Her deep disdain for the African must surely be seen as a lapse of judgment.
As the ANC rightly put it, the likes of Zille deserve the same condemnation reserved for those apartheid henchmen BJ Vorster, Hendrik Verwoerd and DF Malan.
Which brings me to the importance of Human Rights Day on Tuesday. In the context of Zille’s remark it is imperative we all remember to fight efforts to distort our history. Human Rights Day has immense symbolism – it is about remembering how our people had to fight for dignity, justice and respect.
It marks the day of the Sharpeville march massacre when 69 people were murdered by the apartheid police.
The march, in protest against the pass laws, was led by the newly formed PAC on March 21, 1960. All South Africans need to respect this historical landmark even though there are those who belittle the violent and subjugated history of Africans.
This year we also mark the centenary of the longest-serving ANC president, OR Tambo. We must use occasions like Human Rights Day to remember his legacy and to rededicate ourselves to the vision of a better and just country.
Such days are not holidays and occasions for alcohol and drug abuse, but vehicles for strengthening nation building and social cohesion.
No matter the historical divisions and prejudices that mar progress towards a fully equal and just society, all South Africans must play their part in the fight against dehumanising poverty and racism.
We have reached a stage of reckless despair where there are those who want to criminalise the democratic state by distorting and twisting facts for their own ends. Some want to turn Human Rights Day into Marikana Day. But this abuses what happened at Marikana and is not about the advancement of human rights.
You cannot equate the apartheid government, whose political ideology the UN denounced as a crime against humanity, with Marikana.
The South African government regrets the loss of life at Marikana and has taken responsibility for what happened and is committed to justice for the victims and their next of kin.
The government is ready to pay reparations in line with the commission of inquiry led by Judge Ian Farlam.
My department is working hard to ensure that, as directed by President Jacob Zuma, compensations are finalised soon.
Although we are pleased that to date more than 600 claimants have accepted the payments negotiated, we appreciate that money can never replace the loss of life.
For the ANC and its government, the Freedom Charter and the constitution inform us that the right to life is a fundamental human right in a civilised society.
Our sense of commitment to a fair and just compensation to those who lost their beloved ones or whose rights were violated in the tragedy seeks to help heal wounds and bring closure.
It is a quest towards a better life for all. Nhleko is the minister of police.