Bullies analogy explained
JACARANDA FM radio personality Tumi Morake took a page from the book of the infamous apartheid-era villain Hendrik Verwoerd’s grandson when she used the analogy of comparing apartheid to bullying‚ the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa heard yesterday.
This was according to the radio station’s legal representative‚ Professor Justine Limpitlaw‚ who presented the company’s case to the commission.
“It is specifically written about in a book, On Our Moral Responsibility for Past Violations, by Wilhelm Verwoerd,” Limpitlaw said.
“He is quoting an analogy which was used during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission proceedings about how it feels to have been a victim of gross human rights abuse‚ and yet there is no retribution there.”
During her radio show last month‚ Morake said apartheid was like bullies on a playground who stole another child’s bicycle but‚ instead of being punished for stealing‚ the thief and the bicycle owner now had to share the bike and play together.
Her comments left many of the radio station’s listeners up in arms. Six of them laid complaints with the complaints commission, while some advertisers threatened to withdraw from the station.
Limpitlaw said it seemed as though the complainants were simply not prepared to engage in open conversations about race and apartheid.
“I think what we are dealing with in this is the discomfort that a number of white people feel about the discussion about the effects of apartheid,” she said.
“Many white complainants made comment like: ‘Tumi‚ you were 12 when apartheid ended. Get over it’.
“People said: ‘It’s 23 years on, why are we still talking about it?’.
“There is a victimhood mentality happening and many were unhappy about her reference directly to the oppression of black people.”
The station said it saw nothing wrong with what Morake had said. –