Blatant bigotry belongs in Orania

SALEEM Abdulla (The Mercury, October 18) and Dudley Thompson (The Mercury, October 21) would clearly like The Mercury to be a mouthpiece for their bigotry and intolerance, are incensed that it is not, and will resort to blatant misrepresentations in their will to dominate the other, in order to feel better about themselves.

First, why the antipathy to polyamory? Traditional marriage in both the Islamic and Christian traditions has allowed for multiple partners, as does African traditional marriage. Are you seriously suggesting that no one must ever write articles about their experiences in such contexts? Or is it the “gayness”’ you are secretly objecting to?

Secondly, porn is not (as you well know) a statement of one’s emotional and personal life choices, which was the content of the article concerned. Labelling the other as obscene is a tactic to deflect attention from one’s own peccadilloes; I am sure that you felt that The Mercury was a better paper when (for “eight generations”) it was reporting the norms of colonial and apartheid SA, where gay people were “cured” by involuntary sex changes, and generals abused under-age boys under a cloud of silent shame.

Your tactics are obvious and fallacious; to suggest “why not with photos?” is a classic case of misrepresentation; there were no graphic descriptions of sex acts, let alone “photos”. There was merely a statement of a lifestyle and the consequences thereof, not all easy to deal with (as discussed in the article).

Your opinions are not a sufficient reason to restrict anyone’s lifestyle or discourse. If you do not like the fact that non-hetero-normative people exist and talk about their lives, please retreat to Orania or Idaho or Mosul.

In the real world people realise that it really is nobody’s business, apart from those concerned. Your insistence that only what you want to hear should be published is based on a view of humanity that has no place in any culture except Hitler’s Reich, Islamic State’s perversion of Islam, and Pastor Anderson’s hate speech. GARETH AMERY Bellair

We stated our case, we did not destroy

GREG Larsen’s letter in The Mercury, October 21, refers.

This “bigoted senior citizen” was demonstrating against segregated universities in 1961. This was a worthwhile cause – at 17, we knew this country could not afford to have separate universities for all population groups, and believed that all who had the matric marks to qualify for university entrance should be allowed to attend the university of their choice.

We did not destroy things, burn libraries, lecture theatres and residences. We simply met and stated our case. They called out the army.

This whole Fees Must Fall argument is sick: 10% or 11% of the population cannot pay enough tax to cover the cost of educating all the young people in the country. Poor, deserving students should be assisted, but where the parents are able to pay, they should.

Any student who is on a “free pass” should lose his funding on failure of a year. The argument being, study – take your opportunity while you may. If you are here for a joyride, go away and make way for someone more deserving.

If you were a member of the police force, would you stand there smiling benignly while students threw rocks at you and set buildings alight? Come now, is there no common sense among today’s students? Your parents have presumably paid for this year of your “studies” – what a thank-you to them to destroy what you inherited instead of making use of your opportunity. MARY CARR

Durban

Council is boosting wheel repair service

IT IS pleasing to know that at least one industry in Durban is experiencing an unprecedented boom. This is the alloy wheel repair service. Recently I had two damaged wheels repaired by one of these companies.

I was amazed to see at least a hundred wheels sent in by tyre companies from all over Durban – all waiting to have their damaged rims repaired. The proprietor said he had to thank the council for this welcome bonanza.

The roads department in Durban has an extraordinary scheme of digging small holes, sometimes with no apparent underground work having been done, and then filling them with a loose sand and stone mix. It is then left for the rain in the coming months to wash away. The holes are then ready to do their work.

On inspecting some of the wheels it was evident that even a robust SUV can fall victim to these dangerous traps.

The proprietor suggested that I should file a claim against the municipality, but if successful, it will take more than a year to settle. By this time one may have had a second damaging encounter with these fiendish obstacles. ROGER INGLE

Morningside

A humbling life experience

This weekend I was humbled. I went to my right-hand man’s funeral in Inanda. Sipho worked for me for 14 years and died last week after an illness.

I expected a small group of family and friends and was shocked to find a hall with around 500-600 mourners! I knew he was a pastor in his church, but what nobody had ever told me is that he had started that church from scratch a very long time ago.

I was told of his support for the local community, his counselling sessions with anyone who needed help and support. He was loved by everyone because of his selflessness. He used to borrow my bakkie every so often to carry material to extend his house. Yes, it was his house, but also where his church was based.

I was humbled to listen to four hours of praises and singing for him. I was humbled because my speech wasn’t prepared to praise him enough. And I was humbled by all the people, young and old, who came to thank me for employing him and allowing him to do his work in the community. Hamba kahle, Sipho. FRANCOIS VINCENT

Glenwood

Probe the youth league leader first

SO MR Gwede Mantashe, ANC secretary-general, recently stated that the ANC would conduct lifestyle audits on all its members to eradicate corruption. May I suggest that for starters they use Collen Maine as a test case.

The ANC Youth League president registered a bond of R5.4 million to buy a house on the Woodhill Residential Estate and Country Club in Pretoria. The question to investigate is: How can he afford to pay such a large bond? STEVE COMINETTI

Durban North

Punishment should not apply to all

MY HUSBAND and I have reduced water consumption by 30%, which by no means is an easy task.

So why should we be punished, by paying a drought levy, which apparently is “not about making money – but saving water” as pointed out by Mr Gumede?

Penalise those who haven’t made the effort of saving, for every percentage they didn’t save! ROSEMARIE PRAHL

Glen Anil