Crimes done in name of any faith

AS A Muslim, I feel that Angela Peters’s letter, “Attacks on Paris demand a reply”, (The Mercury, November 16), necessitates a response.

Ms Peters, are you saying that whenever a person of a particular religion commits a crime, then other people of that religion should feel obliged to defend or account for their actions?

Should Jewish people respond whenever Israel kills innocent Palestinians? Or Christians respond to the shooting of worshippers in Georgia?

The truth is that anyone out there can commit a crime in the name of any religion. It does not necessarily mean that that religion’s followers are anything like them, that they support their actions or that they have to respond or defend their religion. And Islamic State is definitely not Islamic, nor does it represent Muslims.

Ms Peters, you asked why Muslims have not come out in response to the attacks on innocent civilians in Paris. They have, Muslims and non-Muslims alike have shown their disgust and remorse at what happened across all forms of social media. It was a terrible tragedy and just as we feel the pain of the Syrians and Palestinians, so too do we feel for the Parisians.

We just don’t need to feel compelled to broadcast our sympathies to the world. The victims are in our thoughts and prayers. Z KAKA Overport

I won’t apologise for Islamic State’s terror

IT IS with some bafflement that I read Angela Peters’s letter, “Attacks on Paris demand a reply”, (The Mercury, November 16).

Why should I, as a South African Muslim, want to apologise for the Islamic State group’s atrocities?

It’s like asking all Jews of the world to apologise for apartheid Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, the demolishing of their homes and stealing land and the killings.

Or all the Christians to apologise for George W Bush’s crusade in Afghanistan, and the hopeless war in Iraq that gave rise to the Islamic State cult.

Or to ask all of the white population to apologise for supporting the apartheid South African government.

But as a Muslim, I will condemn and grieve all loss of innocent life – be it in Nigeria, Congo, Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Burundi, Palestine, France and even here in our beautiful, blessed country, where our lawabiding citizens and police are killed daily. RASHIDA PATEL

Isipingo Beach

Unnatural selection for drought relief

THE Farmers Weekly magazine of November 20 reports that a National Department of Agriculture official, Makenosi Maroo, has received no notification of any drought disaster declaration for KwaZulu-Natal.

To add insult to injury, the KZN Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has not been notified that KwaZulu-Natal is a drought disaster area, according to spokesman Lelethu Manentsa.

To top it all, it appears from reports that only emerging farmers will receive relief (if they are lucky).

So the decision as who to assist in a national crisis is based on race.

A more chaotic and abhorrent approach to this crisis is difficult to find. Only in the annals of Hitler or Stalin could one probably find similar reasoning. CHARLES CADMAN

Durban

Language policy can help nation building

I REFER to Eusebius McKaiser’s article, “Here’s a language lesson for the DA” (The Mercury, November 16). Firstly, I’d like to thank the journalist for a very good and unbiased report. It is crucial for us as South Africans to note and appreciate such changes as the one at Stellenbosch University on its language policy as important in building and uniting our nation.

Running administrative and academic programmes in Afrikaans is not a problem and it will never be. However, if the institution fails to cater for non-Afrikaans students, that’s where the problem begins.

Secondly, Afrikaans has not only affected black students, but also white English-speaking South Africans, especially because, although they may have learnt Afrikaans at school, they may not be proficient enough academically when taught in Afrikaans. So they were left out, in a way, because of the language mainly used in the institution.

Lastly, using English in South Africa has many benefits in terms of communications and business, as it is one of the most spoken languages globally. But that doesn’t mean Afrikaans has to be sidelined.

For example, at the University of Zululand, 99.9% of students speak IsiZulu as their mother tongue, but all academic programmes are in English. As long as IsiZulu is spoken, it will not die.

The same applies to Afrikaans and other languages. NKULULEKO MDUNGE

Durban

Ezemvelo’s acting chief not focused

THE article about the Ezemvelo provident fund (The Mercury, November 16) refers.

It certainly raises a number of questions. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife is in a shambles because of bad management, poor staff recruitment and placement, and corruption.

Rhino poaching is out of control and the aerial surveillance unit, Zap Wing, has not flown for months owing to a failed tender process and a lack of resources. Reserve management leaves a lot to be desired.

The previous chief executive was suspended for nearly a year and then given a substantial sum of money to leave. David Mabunda was brought in as an acting chief executive to fix all of these issues.

It would appear from the article that instead of doing what he was employed to do, he is concentrating on the staff provident fund – one which, only a year ago, did a due diligence exercise with presentations from seven service providers, including Absa. The management board unanimously opted to stay with Old Mutual. One has to ask why. The questions I have are:

Was a commission paid for moving the SANParks pension fund from Old Mutual to Absa and, if so, how much and to whom?

If the Ezemvelo provident fund is moved to Absa, will a commission be paid? If so, how much and to whom?

If an office was required in their Durban office for occasional executive use, why did it necessitate the acting chief executive and the general manager of human resources going from Pietermaritzburg to Durban and getting a locksmith to break into the office, which was being used by the chairman of the provident fund management board? A file relating to the Absa investigation is said to have gone missing in the removal of the chairman’s effects from that office. Is this true?

I have seen no attempt by the Ezemvelo board to advertise for a new chief executive.

RON PHYSICK Retired, Natal Parks Board

Racism still rules in this country

DURING the Wits University students’ #FeesMustFall demonstrations, the former students’ representative council president Shaerra Kalla was seen in the front line with council president Nompendulo “Ulo” Mkatshwa.

But Destiny magazine chose to put the single face of Mkatshwa on its December cover. This is simply not on.

It is unfair. Both Kalla and Mkatshwa were equally in the limelight during the height of the demonstrations, but one gets credit while the other is sidelined. Is this not racism because Kalla is Indian, not black enough to qualify? Racism based on the colour of the skin still rules in this country, say what you may. ISMAIL MOOLLA

Umzinto THE first time I went into an internet chatroom was in 1996. I pretended to be a boy and I found it freeing. I thought, “Oh wow, no one knows who I am.”

I was saying stupid things and picking on certain people, but I was just thinking about how I could say whatever I wanted. But the community took the wind out of my sails and no one responded to me any more, and that was my lesson learnt.

Anonymity is essential in life to try on different identities and explore different aspects of ourselves, but if you use that anonymity to attack someone, there can be a lot of repercussions.

We like to take the fault away from ourselves and blame technology for exacerbating issues such as, say, bullying or extremism, but all the internet does is connect human beings to human beings – it doesn’t do anything to you.

Over the past few months I’ve been living in a smart home using (the voice-controlled) Amazon Echo, this black tube with a blue light that’s in the kitchen, and it’s always listening.

I use her to do things such as turn on music or add to shopping lists. But, unlike Siri, the thing is damn rude and that p***** me off. I want to say, “Please can you do this” or “Thank you” as it’s how I was brought up.

But there’s no “You’re welcome” or “I live to serve” or any

As AE at home becomes more commonplace, we need to think more about how they interface with humans

of the things that Siri says if you thank her.

So I’m not polite back. But when you pair that with having kids in the house, they start thinking, well, mummy doesn’t bother with niceties. As the device at home becomes more commonplace, we need to think more about how they interface with humans.

I went to Japan recently and it’s interesting how they are looking at the issues they face with a decreasing population. Rather than look at finding more carers for the elderly, which would be supported by immigration, they are looking to technology: they’re more comfortable with robotic carers than bringing a lot of unknown people into their private space.

Before the advent of smartphones, you used to be able to see what someone was engaging with, but now I’m not sure whether they are looking at porn or reading about the Declaration of Independence. All I can see is the back of a device, and I can’t participate with someone at the table, and that bugs me.

If I’m sitting on the beach in Los Angeles, watching the sunset or hiking in Scotland, it gives me moments of non-frantic stillness when I’m not just sprinting around; all you can do is enjoy the view.

And I’ve realised that not finishing that podcast or not writing that article or not making the best meal in the world is okay, as there is a giant world out there that has been around a hell of a lot longer than me, and will be there a hell of a lot longer after – just let it go, man! – The Independent on Sunday

Krotoski is a social psychologist, broadcaster and technology writer.