instead of the south african people being one nation, we are constantly being torn apart. torn apart by race. torn apart by language, torn apart by culture. torn apart by money.
it is not required to write about how racially divided south african society is. the public land hearings, and the racist rants heard at these public hearings, is writing on the wall. writing on the wall of things to come, if things do not change quickly.
we heard penny sparrow. then, worse, velaphi khumalo. general south african society (the average citizen) does not think that what velaphi khumalo said is so much worse than what penny sparrow said. maybe it is because the average south african citizen is also illiterate and not only previously disadvantaged, but also currently disadvantaged. the average south african will also be disadvantaged in the future.
we read about nkagiseng khooe, who quits a bar society and accuses the advocates of being racists. yet, the problem is that the term: previously disadvantaged, never goes away. presently, over 90% of all government employees do not wear white skins. in fact, in many government departments there are fewer than 1% white skinned employees at any level. nkagiseng khooe would be perfectly happy if only black females were empowered, forever. speaking as a poor white skinned male person, to me, this looks simply like never ending racism and more sexism. of course, to nkagiseng khooe it is a white male dominated bar and to her, it looks like the bar is white supremacist institution. we all have a perspective and a \point of view\ – what we see from where we are.
in 2018 what does previously disadvantaged mean? what will previously disadvantaged mean in 2025? in 2050? in 2100? and in 2500?
the practical reality is that 98% of people in south africa, are poor. the practical reality is that over 90% of all south african people do not wear white skins. the richest 1% of south africans consists of 90% white skinned people.
so, now we have the land hearings. the land hearings are listening to what people on the ground are saying.
have you been listening?
south africa is becoming a failed experiment. the average south african black person never used to be racist and used to be moderately non violent.
from listening and reading the reported speeches at the public land hearings, this has changed and is changing.
the average black person in south africa seems to have become racist and from the increasing violent protests, is also becoming increasingly violent.
white skinned people, speaking at the public land hearings, were all disrupted, interrupted and heckled. some white skinned people came to the land hearings and also then left without speaking and many white skinned people did not stay to listen to all of the speeches. the sentiment, the hate, the anger and the resentment is very clear.
the vast majority of black skinned speakers spoke about land as if white people stole land from black people (as in criminal behavior) not only is this an illiterate and uninformed point of view, but the majority of speakers are simply uneducated.
poor people, of all skin colours, need someone to blame for their situation. it seems, from the public land hearing thus far, that there is no simple and easy solution to what ails south african society.
what is perfectly crystal clear is that if south africans keep up the racism, this country will fail.
maybe, like Zimbabwe, south africa first needs to fail, to learn? in all probability, as things are proceeding presently, it is not just white skinned fear of racial cleansing, but the reality that the small tree of black racism is growing into a powerful tree, with deep and strong roots. the other reality is that the term: ‘Previously Disadvantaged’ will never go away and will always mean: “Black skinned poor person” never mind the white skinned poor people, there are enough rich white skinned people.
I have said it before, and it seems like this will never change. all south african people, of all cultures and all viewpoints can agree and do agree on one simple fact:
south africa is all about the colour of your skin.
