Anarchy is not democracy
PEOPLE were photographed vandalising art owned by UCT.
The photo scenes are oddly satirical as it appears to celebrate anarchy. Youths, who as yet have made no meaningful contribution to society, stole UCT artwork and then set it on fire.
Oddly, there are some amid us who believe “the end justifies the means”, and thus the burning of the artwork is minor equated to the context of “justifiable anarchy”.
When the computer centre and library of other universities were ruined and hundreds of millions wasted, few vital voices rejected the anarchy. Again, the protest was regarded as legitimate albeit the ruin of public facilities.
This is the same tactic that some use when spreading chaos elsewhere in the world.
The Arab Spring was lauded and globally celebrated. Dictators across the Middle East were “ostensibly brought to book”. This was an untruth. Currently, the entire Middle East is aflame and Syria, Iraq, Libya, Egypt and other states remain worse off with little prospect of democracy or freedom.
The military dictator of Egypt now addresses the UN while the democratically elected president of Egypt rots in jail without a fair trial.
History is filled with tragedies and tribulations that some want to forget. The question is, why do we want to forget? By burning effigies of the past, what do we hope to achieve, how does the burning of any artwork benefit this generation?
Can art be neutral or must it be considered colonial etc. How does a landscape or self-portrait become interpreted as colonial, if that is the point of dispute? Is it possible that by remembering ill-fated events, future generation can assist in preventing suffering?
Since history cannot be burned or destroyed, who gets to decide what aspects of our colonial and apartheid art history is unworthy? Also, is there an imperative to learn from the mistakes and rectifying behaviour to ensure a better future for all?
Is our task to be better than those before us so that later generations may value our input, or do they burn in their time what we have or will create?
Nothing can be achieved with the ruin of property and artwork etc. Ask the historians in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere how the ruin of their historical sites had benefited them.
Years ago, when Thabo Mbeki was removed many celebrated. We were promised a better future and a “better life for all”. What did we get in reality, but the rise of President Jacob Zuma?
The lesson is that often people engage in serious activities with short-term goals and no idea of how actions will unfold.
That is how genuine protests are hijacked by those with more nefarious agendas and results.
Just ask the Libyans. Many in Libya now ask why Muammar Gaddafi was removed.
Under his rule, refugees and religious fanatics were kept in check and all Libyans had enough to eat.