[Rudirainbow]

Ons smeek die land se leiers om iets te doen aan die lae intensiteit oorlog wat in Suid-Afrika aangaan, maar hulle doen niks. Dis 'n oorlog tussen gewone burgers van alle rasse teen misdadigers. Elke dag sterf net meer as 50 mense as gevolg van moord in SA - die hoogste syfer ter wêreld. As ons kla, word ons aangesê om die land te verlaat. Hier is 'n baie insiggewende artikel deur 'n plaaslike (swart) professor. Die Malan na wie hy verwys is Rian Malan, wenner van die Booker prys vir sy boek oor Suid Afrika gedurende die 80's en 90's, "My Traitor's Heart". Malan was in exile, en is nou weer terug in die land en is musikant.

"A mistake to label all critics ‘racist’
Sipho Seepe


YOU could be forgiven for dismissing Rian Malan, the renowned South African
author, as a mere publicity seeker. Yet his ideas are worth engaging.
Penning a lead article, The End of SA, for the UK-based Spectator in October
last year, Malan provided a graphic representation of a country in the
thralls of social and systemic disintegration. Zuma’s groundswell of
support, the cheering of Tony Yengeni at the prison gates and the failed
power grab by the African National Congress (ANC) in Western Cape are
presented as proof of SA’s decline into chaos, corruption and
maladministration.

According to Malan, “it all began with ‘transformation’, a euphemism for
ridding the public service of whites, especially white males. This led to
what we call ‘capacity problems’, a euphemism for blacks who could not or
would not carry out the jobs for which they were paid. Capacity problems in
turn led to crises in electricity supply, refuse removal, road maintenance,
health care, law enforcement and so on.”

It would be tempting to dismiss Malan’s observations as the ranting of a
racist, but he is not alone. In a hard-hitting article for the Sunday Times,
respected black journalist Justice Malala observed: “It is impossible not to
feel that we have lost direction here, that we are debating the wrong point
and the wrong regime. We are living in a country characterised by shocking
lack of leadership, a country wracked by HIV denial and crime. Incompetent,
inept and arrogant ministers are kept in office. Corruption runs rampant and
yet the country’s president keeps quiet while his prisons minister spends
two hours welcoming a fraudster to jail. The truth is that we are living
through one of the most arrogant, unresponsive and opaque governments of the
new SA.”

Seemingly dissatisfied with his earlier salvo, Malan was at it again. In
what could be read as the height of arrogance, he tells blacks to “stop
suffering like a victim” (Saturday Star, 11 November 2006). Quoting the
conservative Indian-born American scholar, Dinesh D’Souza, Malan says
“humans who think of themselves as victims will remain victims”. And “blacks
should stop feeling sorry for themselves, they should take charge of their
own destiny and pull themselves up by their bootstraps”.

What could be more provocative than telling the victims to get off their
backsides and stop moaning?

However, while it is important to acknowledge the past, it is fruitless to
dwell on it. Africans are not the only ones to have been ravaged by
colonialism. India was ruled by the British for more than two centuries.
Before that, it was ruled by the Persians, the Afghans, Alexander the Great,
the Mongols, the Arabs and the Turks. Indeed, the world has seen many
empires: Egyptian, Persian, Macedonian, Islamic, Mongol, Chinese, as well as
the Aztec and Inca empires in the Americas.

This understanding should disabuse us of our preoccupation with victimhood.
We need to acknowledge that some of Africa’s problems are home grown. Africa
must assume blame for its wretchedness. Until fairly recently, Zimbabwe was
the second most robust economy in sub-Saharan Africa.

Indeed, can we dispute the fact that South Africans have come to regard with
pride and even possessiveness the very institutions that were bequeathed by
the last colonial order in Africa?

East Asia provides a resounding illustration of how not to cling to notions
of victimhood. A basic examination of post-1945 world history reveals that
what separates Africa from East Asia lies in the fact that our continent has
spent much of the past 40-odd years mired in despotic governance,
ethnic/tribal disputes and plundering military regimes, while the Asians
invested their energies in education, economic renewal, science and
technology, as well as progressively consolidating systems of governance.

The striking thing is that today one cannot even imagine that at the
beginning of the 1960s, East Asia was at the same level of development as
much of Africa. Indeed, it is with a strong sense of historical irony that
one looks at African leaders today going around lobbying Asia to invest in
our struggling economies.

For Malan and his fellow travellers, policies based on a sense of being
wronged and the demand for compensation for land, jobs, contracts and houses
cannot replace diligence, honesty, discipline and dedication. Is it
surprising that the black elite and those who can afford to provide better
education for their children would rather take them to former white schools
than to the townships? Yet it is also true that some township schools
achieve, against all odds, great results.

How many of our university vice-chancellors would have enrolled their
children at their own institutions? Yes, black parents prefer to take their
children to those institutions where headmasters instill a culture of
discipline.

D’Souza and Malan are part of a growing group of writers and scholars who
argue that Africa’s problems are to be found in political traditions, which
foster corrupt and despotic leaders, and a racial solidarity that prevents
African leaders and scholars from criticising each other. Indeed,
colonialism, racism, artificial borders and debt have contributed to the
situation, but the present malady falls squarely on the shoulders of the
present-day generations.

For these scholars, salvation is to be found in black achievement. For this
to occur, blacks must learn to respect themselves, arm themselves with
education and the acquisition of property. It should not be the case of
black dependency on the benevolence of white masters.

Equal political rights are important — indeed a cause of celebration. But
these rights by themselves cannot lead to economic prosperity. If anything,
except for the small, highly indebted black elite, which depends largely on
the largesse of whites, the majority of blacks remain trapped in degrading
poverty.

Much as we may find some of Malan’s propositions astounding, we should
nonetheless cherish the debate they generate, and use this as a test to
further explore our own political premises. Intellectual rigour demands that
we reflect rather than take the easy way out by resorting to name-calling.

‖ Prof Seepe is academic director, Henley Management College. This article was written for Tribute magazine."