Callous criminality is killing our dreams of democracy

‘LITTLE Taegrin’s horrific journey to death” (July 27) is so sad and as a nation we should be outraged. I am angry to think that these pigs walk free. I really feel such pain for this family. I can imagine the pain they are going through. Our children are not safe in the country we, their parents, fought for.

I was hijacked on July 11 on my way to Botswana. I stopped at a filling station in Malibongwe Drive, Johannesburg. I saw these guys and told my daughter there is no way they could afford a C63 Mercedes V8. She laughed and thought I was just being mean.

I did not notice anything until Hillfox, where I saw the same car and thought it was strange that they were headed to where we were headed. After passing Ruimsig and Muldersdrift, that’s when I knew we were been followed. I asked my daughter to get the registration number. I guess they realised I was aware of their intentions.

Somehow a black M5 BMW and the C63 managed to block us and eight guys with rifles pointing at us ordered us to stop. Three got in our car and threw us on the back seat. They then drove with us lying down and kept instructing us not to look at their faces.

They thanked me for cooperating with them, and said they usually don’t do this to black people, they only do it to white people.

My goodness, what has our country come to? Is this not a democratic country? Should a lazy person feel he does not want to work, then choose to hijack? What has a white or black person done to this person who spends the whole day scheming on how to rob people of their hard-earned belongings?

They drove with us for about 45 minutes, my child asking if they are going to kill us. As a mother, this has been the worst I have ever felt and I am still shaken when I think of my traumatised child, helpless! They dumped us near Midrand. They took everything from us.

The scary thing is the cops know them. They even showed me their pictures to identify them, then exclaimed they are the most dangerous gang — especially the one with no finger! How come they are known to be dangerous but they are still left to walk the streets? They kill and walk free. They rape and walk free. Are we going to keep blaming apartheid for being thieves and murderers?

We fought for democracy but we are not living in a democratic country any more. What happened to the death sentence? These people know they get caught today and released next week.

Taegrin did not deserve that. In fact, no one deserves that. I am a very angry citizen. — Nani, e-mail

Black beauty is deeper than skin

‘NOT all African women believe ‘black is beautiful’. And that’s okay” (July 27), writes Nigerian Sede Alonge. This to me is a classic case of someone who chose to misinterpret and trivialise a protest slogan. The beauty spoken about in “blackness” is not necessarily aesthetic or physical, as users of skin-lightening ointments are trying to enhance.

The “Black is Beautiful” slogan made popular by the Black Panthers in the US, and subsequently embraced by the Black Consciousness movement in South Africa, was regarded as a rather cocky means of reaffirming black dignity after centuries of oppression, vilification and denigration by Western nations.

When we chant “Black is Beautiful” we are not necessarily referring to physical beauty; it is a call for Africans to reaffirm and restore their pride in being simply African. This is a revolutionary way of demanding to the world, which has over time impugned African dignity, to treat Africans as equal beings worthy of respect and acknowledgement.

In that context, those who yearn for lighter skin brought about by skin-blemishing agents are mere victims of a system that has successfully obliterated African dignity to a degree where most Africans have actually developed a deeply ingrained inferiority complex. Some have actually come to believe in the superiority of the Western nations, their languages, culture and habits.

African governments and civil societies have a duty not only to educate their ignorant masses about the inherent corrosive dangers of those skin-lightening ointments, they also have a duty to legislate against their usage on medical grounds. — Letepe Maisela, Sandton

She wants to be wanted, not white

THE point of skin lightening is missed by most people. The African woman’s goal is to attract a man’s attention when she bleaches her skin, not to look like a Caucasian. — Betty, by e-mail

We need news, not ANC updates

COMMUNICATIONS Minister Faith Muthambi raised some interesting points in “‘Propaganda’ slur will not halt information revolution in SA” (July 27).

Regarding the SABC board, the minister says: “There seems to be an expectation that it should have nothing to do with how the people of South Africa voted — in other words, there are people who did not win the confidence of the voters who expect to have a disproportionate say in how the SABC board is structured.”

When the minister refers to “our people”, is she referring to ANC supporters?

The minister is right to say the SABC has to be stable. But for the SABC to be stable, you cannot appoint a CEO without the relevant qualifications, the same man who calls for journalists to be licensed.

The minister goes on to say that “the SABC belongs to the public”— so how come the SABC does not cover some stories about Guptagate, Nkandlagate and the recent EFF anniversary rally?

We want to know everything and judge for ourselves rather than be given access to news and info only positive to the image of the president, the ANC and the government. — The One, e-mail

Let EFF back in the house

YOU correctly assert, in “Malema’s resort to the politics of farce will be his party’s ruin” (July 27), that Julius Malema should be using his party’s parliamentary presence to persuade other lawmakers that the dress code is an outdated throwback to a bygone colonial era.

My question is, how does the EFF argue about the dress code in the Gauteng legislature — because it has been thrown out? We voted for them to be in the legislature, not in the streets. I therefore don’t see any wrong in them resorting to protest. — Sibuyi MM, by SMS

Bishops rife with bullying

ABSOLUTELY horrified at the story regarding Bishops as reported in “‘Bishops teacher punished me for reporting abuse’ ” (July 27). I believe the victim wholeheartedly. I have heard many stories of abuse and bullying there from ex-pupils and cannot believe it all remains behind closed doors in this day of expected transparency. Many boys (men) from there are totally emotionally screwed up and I wouldn’t send my son there if you paid me! — Janine, by SMS

ANC guards white privilege

THE land question is a stubborn ghost that will haunt us for many years to come. The sooner it is resolved, the better for our quest to build a just society.

The EFF calls for expropriation of land without compensation, while the ruling party romanticises the land debacle with its ineffective policies. How long should this question be allowed to go unresolved? How long before the ANC realises that its policies amount to gate-keeping white privilege?

Codesa III must be conducted if we are to resolve this question and spare ourselves from further divisions and inequalities arising from landlessness. — Tiyiselani Mathe and Mtititi Lombard, Malamulele, Limpopo

They’re not my rulers

“KING Goodwill weds his sixth queen” (July 27) refers. Shouldn’t only people who want kings pay for their upkeep? I am not a royalist and will therefore never have a king, queen or, for that matter, a paramount chief. My taxes should never be used to maintain royalty. Is South Africa not a democracy? — Born Equal, by SMS