I felt this article needed a clear and concise response. To some degree I do agree with the author, but I have yet to meet an Afrikaner who "misses" old PW. When he had his stroke a lot of Afrikaner people said it was a stroke of luck.
As an Afrikaner I am maybe a bit more fortunate not to have been brought up as a racist. Oh, I did pick a little up at school, but it was removed by my father with a rod and some elbow grease. I can now honestly say I dont have a racist bone in my body. Now the problem I had with your article was that it was incredibly one sided. You blame PW Botha and some Afrikaner people who wish to propagate the hatred. I agree that there are individuals as you said, but the problem is a bit more complicated. So let me show you my point of view.
The major reason for the racial tensions currently seen in South Africa in my opinion is our government. When the ANC government came to power, not much was done by them to breach the divide between the races. Mandela did the best that he could, because he saw what hatred brings, more hatred, but it seemed almost like he was alone in his quest. Out of our government came things such as affirmative action. I understand the reasons why it came about, but at a time when uncertainty ruled the image was clear, your skin colour matters and the government has yet to do anything to change this image. Its even been suggested lately that white women no longer be classified as previously disadvantaged. Personally I have had my mother experience this first hand when they wanted to remove her from her job because she is white. I myself have missed many an opportunity because of my skin colour. The message remains that my skin colour means I am automatically bad.
Furthermore, every election our ruling party brings out the argument that white people are bad, they treated black people in the past like objects. It is true that this happened in the past, but this increases the divide evermore. Also, apartheid gets the blame for so many things, including corruption, bad eduction etc.etc.etc. Its been almost 20 years after apartheid and yet we still have to live with it, instead of heal from it.
It has gotten so bad that when Julius Malema made the statement that all white people are criminals because their forefathers stole land, no charges of blatant racism were laid against him. He basically said that because of the colour of my skin, I am a criminal. He wasnt even reprimanded because of it. The ANC didnt even make the statement that they distance themselves from that view. Their lack of response to this gave the impressions that they support this notion. Whether they do or dont doesnt matter, it's how it was perceived. To put this statement into perspective, imagine Helen Zille had said something similar about black people. The DA would have instantly fired her, the country would have been in uproar that one of our leaders could be so racist. But its ok if its the other way around. Our government seems like they couldnt care less about the racial divide within our country.
Our government is supposed to lead the country and one of the major things it needs to do is bring about social cohesion. They have utterly failed to do this, even at times appearing to actively try to sabotage it. Whether this came by design or intent the results remain the same, where we could have had a more unified nation, the rift remains in all its disgustingly ugly glory for all to behold.
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