FW de Klerk rails against Zuma for ‘feeding racism’

FORMER president FW de Klerk yesterday blamed the ANC for “imposing a hierarchy of racism” in South Africa, saying that most South Africans are not inherently racist.

“I think the political leaders, including President Jacob Zuma, should avoid utterances that feed racism that are divisive,” he said at a meeting on multiculturalism held by his foundation in the city.

The conference marked the 26th anniversary of a speech that De Klerk delivered on February 2 in which he announced that Nelson Mandela would be released from prison.

De Klerk said while white South Africans had to continually understand, acknowledge and process the pain and humiliation that apartheid had caused, black South Africans had to show greater sensitivity for the complexity of the country’s history.

“We cannot afford racial polarisation. We need to return to the spirit of reconciliation, compromise and goodwill that characterised the first years of the new South Africa,” he said.

Yesterday, his foundation also submitted a complaint to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) about 45 social media posts it believes incites extreme violence against white South Africans.

He said the hate speech seen on platforms like Twitter was not representative of most South Africans. “We shouldn’t allow the debate to be determined by extremists on the left and right. We must mobilise the moderates. If there’s ever been a time for them to be heard, it’s now,” said De Klerk.

ANC veteran Mathews Phosa, who was a guest speaker, used the occasion to criticise ANC leaders and their governance style. “The news is not about news anymore. It is about individuals destroying others and shoving a dictatorial agenda down the collective throats of South Africans,” he said.

De Klerk’s remarks came as he announced the establishment of a Centre for Unity and Diversity to foster a multicultural society, monitoring developments that might pose a threat to national unity or constitute unfair racial, gender or language discrimination. It will also assist people in claiming their language, cultural, religious and gender rights.

De Klerk said English had become the de facto first language of South Africa.

The new centre, which will operate in tandem with his foundation’s Centre for Constitutional Rights, will be up and running within the next six months, guided by a panel of experts.

Criticising the government, Phosa said: “People want a leadership with ethics and honour. That’s what people are calling for and nothing less.”

He said the country’s leaders had to address racism through their actions. “When a political leader starts supporting racism by commenting on social media, we are in dangerous territory,” he said.

De Klerk and Phosa both said they were opposed to introducing legislation to deal with incidents of racism. Existing legislation on hate speech was sufficient, De Klerk said.

Phosa said South Africa had failed to implement programmes that actively promoted multiculturalism.

Public attacks on former leaders Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki were also uncalled for, Phosa added. “We should not be afraid of those views from which we differ. A diverse nation will always have diverse opinions. Democracy is noisy.”

South Africans he said had gone from celebrating diversity, to attacking diversity.

“The current climate of cultural and political intolerance is already visible in our poor performances on the sports fields, in the boardrooms and in Parliament,” he said. “There is dignity in our differences.”

The Anti-Racism Action Forum said it will lay 22 criminal charges against De Klerk and former law and order minister Adrian Vlok in Joburg today, for crimes against black people for which they did not receive amnesty from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. De Klerk will also face complaints of racism lodged at the SAHRC, it said.

But De Klerk said yesterday: “I have no fear whatsoever, my hands are clean.”