Better methods of protest

WITH reference to the In my View column by Pedro Mzileni (“Actions of racism victims cannot be considered illegitimate”, January 18), wow, he is one angry young man.

I am not arguing with his issue about H&M, but there are far better ways to express yourself versus the methods being employed by the EFF.

Destroying property and intimidating people will not resolve the matter.

This is the method used by Adolf Hitler in the 1930s.

Hitler unleashed his brownshirts onto the Jews and anyone else who disagreed with him, including the brownshirts intimidating the democratically elected government. A reminder of the past. Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.

Niemöller is perhaps best remembered for the quotation:

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out – “”Because I was not a socialist. “Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out – “Because I was not a trade unionist. “Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – “Because I was not a Jew. “Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.” Lest we forget. I am in no way condoning racism or the actions by racists or denying the damage that apartheid did to the people of South Africa.

The people who are offended by H&M have freedom of choice not to spend their money in the H&M stores.

A suggestion for Mzileni: direct your anger and frustration at the damage Sadtu has inflicted on 23 years of school-going children through its systematic destruction of the schooling in the township schools.

These schools should have been transformed into centres of excellence by the teachers, but instead the kids were neglected while Sadtu used the teachers as a power base to play politics.

Destruction of property and intimidation have never solved problems.

You may gain some short-term advantage by this action, but in the long term it will be a lose-lose outcome.