Blogging Africa

Terre Noire, Terre Blanche: South Africa in black and white

Dibussi Tande

2010-04-15, Issue 477

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/63704

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There are 2 comments on this article.

Tia-Mysoa argues that the talk of racial violence is overblown and that the racial tensions are being stocked by extremist minorities on both sides of the racial divide:

'There’s no doubt that a large number of folk in this country are really very upset right now, and I genuinely believe that many, especially those who have lost loved ones in the ongoing genocide perpetrated by the black savages, have every reason to feel extremely angry. No one deserved to die in the manner Eugène Terre Blanche did, and the fact that certain black people happily celebrated his death, has also made me feel very angry indeed.

'Some people like Malema are always angry. I think he was born that way! His outburst the other day when he humiliated a BBC journalist in public was a perfect example of how nasty he can get. BUT, Malema does not represent the entire nation of black youth in this country! In fact, there are 1000’s of black people in this country who also think the man is an idiot. For obvious reasons their views seldom get published in the MSM.

'Most members of the AWB have been angry since the day the organisation was born in 1973. What has their anger achieved since then? – Absolutely nothing! Although I’ve heard that more than 3000 new members have recently signed up, after their leader was murdered, the organisation’s numbers still DO NOT represent the majority white Afrikaners living in this country. There’s talk in the media that the AWB wants to avenge the death of Eugène Terre'Blanche, but I really doubt whether people with this attitude actually represent the true wishes of the majority AWB members!'

The Salad Magazine Blog laments that the racial hatred that has destroyed Zimbabwe has turned its sights on South Africa and argues that the onus is on white South Africans to diffuse the situation:

'White Africans need to be made to sit down at the same table as their fellow Black Africans and instead of lording it over them they need to humble themselves and listen and see the pain and hatred that we have caused over the generations to fellow human beings who don’t happen to be the same colour as us. We need to be face to face with that deep rooted hate and pain. We can’t keep on waltzing along and pretending that all is fine and the rainbow nation has a pot of gold at the end of it. We need to learn to understand our differences and then respect each other for the human beings that we all are...

'I am a proud African woman who happens to be White. I never choose my colour. I have to carry the history whether good or bad, whether I personally believed that it was right to divide and rule by racism or not. I am judged not by who I am and what I think and believe but by the colour of my skin and its history here in Africa. Because of it I have had to learn that I must walk that extra mile and extend my hand further and pay attention to the feelings of others more than my own...

'Acting like an ostrich and swanking around telling Black people ‘to get over it and move on’ or blindly rushing off to the nearest court to scream racism is NOT THE WAY TO HEAL THE HURT AND PAIN OF GENERATIONS THAT OUR ANCESTORS CAUSED.

'We need to open the doors to talk, listening, facing facts and start the long and painful journey of healing the still very open, raw wounds of the past.'

Patriotic Courage uses the murder of Terre Blanche as a backdrop to the broader debate over the transfer of white-owned farms to Blacks:

'It is absolutely simplistic to believe that we can simply replace 360 years of farming experience with a nation of subsistence farmers with little knowledge or skills in the modern farming methods required to produce food cost effectively.

'No matter how attractive the modern farms may appear they will soon be destroyed by overzealous redistribution and nationalisation. It is all very well for my favourite kindergarten politician to rant and rave about the success of Zimbabwe's land reform (tell that to the starving masses in Zimbabwe who leave every day for the possibility of feeding themselves in South Africa) but the bald fact is that the land reform process was fatally flawed because it was based on two fatally flawed assumptions. These are that the modern commercial farmer needs no more knowledge than the seasons to plant a crop and that the people being returned to the land are actually willing to live far from the modern amenities and live the austere life of a commercial farmer. Many of the beneficiaries of land reform would much rather have access to their historical cemeteries and compensation for the land that they lost while leaving the farming to those people who know what they are doing...'

Missmaniac is so concerned about the worsening racial climate in South Africa that she is seriously thinking of leaving the country:

'I am not a racist, I am not a white supremacist or right winger...
Recent events in our country have scared me, not only as an Afrikaner, but as a citizen of the Republic of South Africa...
I cannot raise my children in such a country, where education systems are failing us, where thousands of people of all races are being murdered, raped and assaulted, in a country where we are declared as one of the most crime stricken countries in the world.
What am I supposed to teach my children? How do I tell them that their country's history is only violence and hate ?
When I look at my two sons, I realize that it would be a great injustice to them and will therefore seriously consider leaving this beautiful nature, this country with its mesmerizing savannas, its enchanting forests, its majestic mountains, its diverse and magical coasts and ocean and its golden deserts... '

Working and Living in South Africa has a more sanguine view about the racial tensions in the South Africa,, arguing that the real South Africa is vastly different from the one portrayed in the media:

'My daily life has nothing to do with Julius Malema and Eugene Terre’blance and the minorities they represent. All I see or hear of them is through the media. And most days I don’t even have time to watch or read the news...

'Middle of the road South Africans I come into contact with every day barely speak about politics or race relations. Most people think Julius Malema isn’t worth the newspaper space he takes up. Many believe Terre’blanche’s murder was a criminal act – not a political statement...
In the South Africa I live in, most people I come into contact with are excited about the Soccer World Cup! ...

'We are more concerned about whether the Stormers will continue winning matches or who will win the English Premiership than in the next election.

'Yes, in the South Africa I live in we have problems below the surface that keeps cropping up because we refuse to deal with it. And yes the AWB and the Malemas live here too.
But we are much more than just our politics. We have lives beyond politics.'

Techmasai questions why South Africa’s tech scene is predominantly White, and argues that this does not augur well for the country’s long-term stability:

'The racial disparities of the South African technology scene are so surprising. In a country which seems to enjoy both local and international recognition, it is surprising that there exist to my opinion such disparity. Out of the top start-ups out of South Africa, almost all of them are founded and run by a full team of Caucasians...

'In the South African tech start-ups scene, almost everything is founded by Caucasians and the whole team who work behind the projects are mostly Caucasian. I cannot show that this hypothesis is true in all cases but a look at the teams in Afrigator, Crowdfund and Blueworld confirmed this theory.
In terms of South African bloggers, it could be because of chance but I swear to my life, out of the blogs I read most are written by white South Africans...

'The issue of race is sensitive, but the utter lack of people of color in the South African technology scene to me is amazing. It is slightly humorous to think that in a country where the majority population is either Indian or Black (about 90%), the technology scene is almost 90% controlled by Caucasians. What is not humorous however is the inherent danger which such a situation can cause in society, even affecting the general internal security and stability of a country.'

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Dibussi Tande, a writer and activist from Cameroon, produces the blog Scribbles from the Den.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

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