“Racist golf club attack”. What a bittersweet news headline.
Bitter, because what happened to Nathan Maluleke is horrific. Sweet, because this is the type of news that sells. This is the type of news that news addicts on News24 get high on. It is no secret that we humans are amused by such atrocities. As the old coloured saying goes, “Ons LIKE dinge. Ma dinge laiksie vi onssie”
I am actually reluctant to touch the issue of race. It’s an ill wind that blows no one any good. Many contributors to News24 would attempt to approach the subject unbiased and objectively but will do so with no success. Those who attempt to say, “This is who I am, I am this by nature. This is reality, no harm meant.” It’s a catch 22 situation: To overcome our differences, we need to recognize AND respect them first. We cannot act as though it’s not there. You may put lipstick and eye-shadow on a pig – a pig it will remain. But the fact that we recognize those differences means they become part of our thoughts, and when something becomes part of your thoughts, well . . . wat die hart van vol is, loop die mond van oor. It is at this point, where you make yourself vulnerable to sensitive readers/listeners who will mistake your honesty for racism. By trying to prove you are not racist, you’ve achieved the exact opposite.
What I found very amusing about the “Racist Golf Club Attack”- article was the 536 comments. The commentary started off with something along the lines of:
“Hope Nathan has full recovery and those clutch-plates get the full treatment from court.”
And
“What a bunch of savages, hope they rot in jail.”
And
“Charge him with attempted murder. This is sick!”
These comments are pretty much what I’d expected to get. But it was not the comments I was looking for. I was looking for a specific comment which I knew was bound to find its way to this article. With an article like this, it was only inevitable. You see folks, the bad guy in this case happens to be white and the victim was black. And, I was thinking, this is now the test of all tests. Can South Africa prove that it is indeed a rainbow nation? Can the commentators of News24 prove that not everything has to be about “who was wrong, who was right, was it blacks or was it whites.”
And then, as I read through the comments,
“They should be punished for what they did and I hope everyone who agrees also posted the exact same thing about the black guy who kicked the garage owner in her face and broke her nose.”
Then . . .
“News24 NEVER posts “racist attack” when a black man kills a white man.”
And . . .
“Why does News24 report on this? Yesterday a 72 year old white guy was hit with pangas in JHB – why doesn’t News24 report these attacks??”
Then it went to an all-time low . . .
“Before we judge, get both sides of the story. This seems very one sided.”
Inevitable, I say. Rainbow Nation fail.
The truth is, my fellow South Africans, fellow comrades, the majority of us is sick of the things happening in this country. We are sick of hearing the same old, lame, inexcusable, sad s#@t, day in and day out. But there is a minority. That minority is the cause. They are only a minority but they offend, distort, corrupt, hurt and kill a lot of people in the name of ignorence. Both black and white. These are the people we’d rather have locked up in one of Hitler’s concentration camps. We won’t, though. What we need now is someone amongst us brave enough to stand up and lead us across the Rubicon. It is high time that a revolution take place in this country. In fact, I get the sense that it’s already underway. I sensed it after I read about the four far right terrorists who attempted to blow up the MungaungComference. South Africans are fed-up. Something is building up like a volcano, ready to blow. I sense it, I’m just not sure if it’s headed in the right direction. But, I’ll be sticking around to watch because . . . Kenna? . . . o rata dithaba.
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