Is Cricket South Africa’s chair suffering from amnesia?
In a letter to The Sunday Times on December 17, Lawson Naidoo, the chair of Cricket South Africa, characterised my rebuke of him — for being soft on Zionism and his support of David Unterhalter, a Zionist, for higher judicial office in my oped published on December 10 (“Lawman erred in exonerating cricketer over his Israel stand”) — as “gratuitous”.
Naidoo claims he did not advocate for any candidate, nor does he support Zionism. Instead, he asserts that the court challenges mounted by the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution, of which he is the executive secretary, were launched against the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to challenge the legality of the process and not in support of any candidate.
Perhaps Naidoo has amnesia about his punting of Unterhalter. Naidoo is on record as having said, “he has been a judge on the high court for four years; he has acting stints at the Supreme Court of Appeal, as well as at the Constitutional Court. And I think he ... ticks all the boxes.”
In a previous interview before the JSC, Unterhalter was asked about Zionism and his leadership role in the South African Zionist Federation. Regarding those questions, Naidoo remarked that Unterhalter was subjected to “irrelevant questioning about Israel’s relation with Palestine [which] had nothing to do with Unterhalter’s fitness for office”.
Zionism is a racist political ideology antithetical to our constitution. It is an ideology that privileges Jews to the exclusion of others. Naidoo saw no significance in Unterhalter’s leadership role in a Zionist organisation, nor did it disqualify him for higher judicial office. Dismissing the questions as irrelevant is an affirmation that Naidoo found nothing grotesque about Zionism.
Naidoo claims to align with Nelson Mandela’s views on Palestine but has done or said nothing to rebuke David Teeger, the captain of the Proteas under-19 team, for his support of Israel and its military.
Naidoo claims that I ignore the facts in order “to denigrate Cricket South Africa and mislead readers”. Unfortunately for him, the record speaks for itself.
Ziyad Motala, Cape Town
An inaccurate activist
As the director of Beachwood Investments, I am responding to the article “Residents cry foul over Durban estate plans”, published last week. Claims made in the article by a community activist are incorrect and misleading.
The development site is not a “flood plain”. Flooding largely happens because a stormwater culvert currently drains onto the property. The new estate will feature a stormwater management system that will handle flooding successfully.
A false impression is also created by the activist stating: “The community objected to relinquishing a much-loved recreational and environmental asset without alternative options being considered.” The Beachwood Golf Course has always been private property, not a public space.
However, improvements planned — such as better parking and improved beach access roads — will benefit the community.
The claim that residents were not properly engaged with by the developers is wholly incorrect. The development has been through a detailed approval process, which included extensive public engagement. The estate will be a forwardlooking development on a privately owned piece of land, offering many benefits to the surrounding area. Any legal action against it would have no basis in law.
Gavin Strydom, Durban
An ANC assistant in the woodwork
I believe that for our country to grow, we need robust sustainable transformation practices, so I read with interest the letter by Themba Mzala Hleko entitled “On track to transform farming” (December 24).
The subject was the “handing over of 15 cattle handling facilities to farmers in Tshwane by the Gauteng government”. The writer said “the government must be commended when it implements policies such as the comprehensive rural development plan” and then ended the glowing piece by writing that “assistance by the government lives up to the imperatives of agrarian transformation”.
I researched the gentleman and found that he is an honours graduate in communication from Unisa and holds the post of “assistant director communication” at the department of agriculture.
Why was this information withheld from readers so that they could judge whether the article must be read with government electioneering in mind? Daniel Rossouw, Cape Town
A worthy initiative
The primary cause of existence for a hospital is to provide prompt and adequate health-care response and to ensure quality health care to patients. In this festive season, they must be extra vigilant in ensuring they preserve lives.
However, at Dr Yusuf Dadoo Hospital, in Krugersdorp, officials decided to extend a helping hand by collecting nonperishable and long-shelf-life foods. The donations were handed over to Tower of Life which shelters 80 to 90 men and provides over 400 meals to homeless families on the streets of Krugersdorp.
They have developed a partnership that plays a pivotal role in successfully placing homeless male patients in their centre or connecting women and children with other centres. This type of generous donation was welcomed by many homeless families, as they too were able to celebrate Christmas with warm meals.
Dr Yusuf Dadoo Hospital started this initiative and hopes that more health-care facilities adopt this and drive similar initiatives as a token of giving back to society and enhancing the spirit of Ubuntu, especially over the festive season.