Marks of civilisation

At the top of page 10 of the DD July 29 there is a quote by Max Nordau: “Civilisation is built on a number of ultimate principles ... respect for human life, the punishment of crimes against property and persons, the equality of all good citizens before the law ... or, in a word, justice.”By these and any other just standards, SA is a very uncivilised place to live. Firstly, there is no respect for human life.

Each year there is an annual slaughter of initiates during the cultural initiation process. People kill to gain political advantage. People kill and rape each other, children, spouses and gogos at a rate unequalled anywhere in the world. Torture and killing of farmers and some of their workers is an unspeakable act of cowardice. Tolerance of the proliferation of fraudulent drivers licences causes thousands of deaths annually. Secondly, crimes against property and persons go largely unpunished. We steal, loot and destroy at will and call it “protesting”. We burn and destroy our libraries and other buildings. Our leaders take what they want when they want, especially from the poor, without justice prevailing. Thirdly there is no equality of all good citizens before the law. The poor man gets a jail sentence for stealing bread but his leader steals his future, as well as that of his children, with impunity. This happens in broad daylight by withholding decent education and living conditions from the poor. The money that could have eradicated poverty in 25 years has been looted by the very people appointed to save us from this plight. The citizen who has been wronged is too afraid to approach the police because last time s/he did, s/he was ridiculed or ignored. Nordau doesn’t mention it in his quote, but there is a fourth principle that civilization is built on, and that is the ability of a people to impose their will on leadership so as to effect positive change, whether via the ballot box or other means. In SA the very people trampling on citizens’ rights will be voted into power once again by those whose rights have been trampled upon, to continue their destructive ways.

— AM Naude, via e-mail