Vote wisely, urges US activist speaker
AMERICAN motivational speaker Dr Umar Johnson has called for South Africans to use their votes wisely in the upcoming general elections, saying it is important to ensure the right leaders are put in positions of power.
Johnson was addressing a crowd at eSigodlweni in Orlando East, Soweto, yesterday.
He said the Truth and Reconciliation Commission did not achieve its mission of really giving the victims of apartheid justice.
“As Africans, we have taken our foot off the gas, and we tend to celebrate achievements that have not yet crystallised. We tend to honour agreements with non-African people that are never upheld. I think that a lot of us are a little lazy revolutionary speaking. We are content with superficial achievements but not substantive change. When I look around the diaspora, I see too much celebration and not enough substantive change.
“When it comes to South Africa, they gave us truth and reconciliation. Why are Africans so content with receiving an apology for human rights abuses? Why can’t a white man just say sorry and everything is all right?
“The European Jews did not let the Germans say sorry; they made them pay reparations, but when it came to South Africa, they gave us truth and reconciliation. Just tell the people what you did wrong during apartheid, and you will go free,” he said.
Johnson said the country’s Constitution was a mockery as it elevates
white people at the expense of the majority black people, who are the first citizens of this country.
“I know of no other country where a thief or an invader or coloniser comes and steals and robs and is welcome to stay as a member of the family. What good is the Constitution, a flag, or an anthem if you don’t control the resources? What good is a vote and democracy when the diamonds that are mined do not belong to the people?” he said.
He said South Africans must vote for a party that will ensure economic emancipation and land redistribution if they are to realise the true meaning of freedom.
“Brothers and sisters, please do not fall for the illusion of European democracy. If voting can change your reality, voting would be illegal. Voting in America has brainwashed us into
obsessing about who gets elected.
“Whether it’s Donald Trump or Joe Biden, it does not matter because no matter who we vote for, the resources remain in the hands of the white power structure,” he said.
Johnson was welcomed by the founder of the Great Empire of Kemet movement, Mkhulu Nsingisa, through the Zindzi Mandela Foundation, who called on his American counterpart to help spread the word about the importance of observing the African calendar.
“We need to strengthen our bond with our American brothers and sisters and help us spread the word about the greatness of observing our own way of life through the African calendar, which begins on September 21, in order to align ourselves with the spiritual greatness of us Africans,” Nsingisa said.