Mbeki 'may be right about whites'

2007-03-19 07:25

Carien du Plessis and Mandy Rossouw

Cape Town - President Thabo Mbeki has a point when he says that racism plays a role in white people's attitude to crime, according to at least two experts.

They were commenting on the biting remarks about whites, in the president's latest weekly newsletter, ANC Today.

Mbeki was criticised for reviving the racism question and presenting it as something that was not discussed often enough in South African society.

Some opposition parties were unhappy about the way Mbeki linked crime and racism.

Mbeki wrote that, although he was not denying there was crime, there still were people fanning the fear of crime, based on race.

Dr Charles Villa-Vicencio, head of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, said Mbeki was spot-on when he said white fears of crime were influenced by racism.

'Taken out of context'

"But, it's a pity that he is at this stage restricting his comments on crime, by bringing in racism.

"We really need to hear him expressing himself in a principled way against crime," said Villa-Vicencio.

Professor Dirk Kotzé of the department of political science at Unisa said he thought Mbeki's comments were taken out of context, because they comprised only a small part of his weekly letter.

The theme of the letter (written by Mbeki in his capacity as African National Congress president and in typical Mbeki style) was that racism still was rife, and a phenomenon that needed to be addressed.

The letter appeared in the context of Human Rights Day, which will be celebrated on Wednesday.

Kotze said: "Mbeki has previously referred to 'racism', without generalising.

"For example, he does not refer to white South Africans in general."

Out of kilter, says DA MP

Democratic Alliance MP Diane Kohler-Barnard said crime affected everyone - blacks, whites, coloureds and Indians.

"To suggest that the scourge of crime infesting the country is due to racism, is a little much, and out of kilter with the feelings of all South Africans," she said on Sunday.

Freedom Front Plus leader Dr Pieter Mulder said Mbeki was over-simplifying the public response to the crime situation by giving it a racial connotation.

Mbeki said in his newsletter that too many people restricted discussion of racism by saying that the racist card should not be played.

"It's still a fact that racism is part of our daily lives, a demon that must be destroyed to ensure that we can achieve national conciliation," he wrote.

Mbeki quoted various anecdotes in his letter illustrating how black people still were regarded as inferior either in the workplace or socially, and how they are referred to as kaffirs.

'Still an underlying racism'

He exaggerated the perception of crime in South Africa to show how there was still an underlying racism against black people.

He said: "The fact of the matter is that there is still a significant part of the white minority - and this does not apply to all whites - who live in fear of the black and in particular the African majority," he said.

"Each incident that is reported communicates the terrible and expected message 'the kaffirs are coming'."

- Beeld