The Afrikaners demand 'whites only' land

NDABA NKOMO | Friday June 18, 2010 00:00

It is here two black men were accused of murdering Eugene Terre'Blanche, the leader of South Africa's far-right Afrikaner Resistance Movement,.

The people manning it, from another Afrikaner outfit with similar views to Terre'Blanche's, were collecting registration forms for an all-white election next year. Once an assembly has been chosen, it will ask the country's government to give them a separate homeland for the volk, descendants of the mainly Dutch pioneers who trekked north from the British-run Cape Colony in the early 19th century.

'You must be part of our people, our cultural identity in order to take part,' says Paul Kruger, a proponent of the homeland idea. 'It's not about skin colour,' he adds with a straight face. 'It's about ethnicity'.

White Afrikaans-speaking Protestants can automatically join. But if any blacks, Coloureds - as South Africa's 4.4m people of mixed race are categorized - or Catholic whites ask to register, 'the people must decide whether such applicants are part of the people or not'.

So far, none has done so. After a year, fewer than 30,000 people have enrolled. South Africa's white population is around 4.5 million in a total of 49 million.

I have a few questions. The death of one racist is evoking racist passions, to such an extent that these white supremacists want their own piece of 'whites only' land in Africa?

What does this tell us about the idealist 'rainbow nation' we see on TV or the 'proudly South African logo in sleek TV ads? If the people who are mourning Terre Blanche want to go back to racist South Africa, what does that mean?

Let us revisit history for a short while.

Walter Rodney in his book, 'How Europe Underdeveloped Africa', states that a monster that has been cruel to you for centuries cannot be friends with you today.

He stipulates that the 'horse and the rider' relationship between the races has been engraved in societal norms to such an extent that it has become second nature. For 400 years blacks have been brutally murdered, robbed of their land and their vast resources transported to Europe. Maybe that spirit has never died.

Sympathisers of the dead racists are wearing apartheid colours and flags in memory of a cruel, atrocious and inhumane system that left thousands of blacks dead. Their crime was their natural appetite for freedom.

Steve Biko, Samora Machel, Jason Ziyaphapha Moyo, Dedan Kimathi and thousands others were murdered in racist Africa. In the true spirit of reconciliation a hand of friendship was extended to the racists who killed our brothers, fathers, uncles and raped our mothers and sisters.

Nelson Mandela envisioned a world where the blacks and whites could live together in harmony. Whites continued their lavish lifestyles, having gained economic leverage over blacks, but they were still not grateful. Blacks lost their economic emancipation because of colonialism but whites still want more.

Terre' Blanche, who did not hide his hatred of black people, has been turned into a hero overnight with over 30,000 supporters. How ironic! The farm workers who fed him are black. They were earning R300 a month I better not convert it into US$. I am reminded of the University  of Free State students who forced black general workers to drink urine to appease their racist glory. They are moving scot-free today and rest assured they are the next executives for corporate South Africa. This is not new.

In Zimbabwe 20,000 black people were killed by what was known as the fifth brigade in the early 80s just after independence. It was around this time that Robert Gabriel Mugabe was knighted.

A few years later he was celebrated as the statesman of Africa by all media in the world. British companies that had an interest in the country 'saw no evil and heard no evil'. Mugabe was an African 'hero'.

Two decades later when he gave farm invasions a nod, and with less than 20 whites killed in the violence, sanctions were imposed on Zimbabwe. Mugabe was called a dictator. He was cast as a cruel African who had no respect for human rights? How ironic!

Here is how Julius Malema, the South African ANC youth leader comes in. Diplomats have to use a certain language, which is 'acceptable' in contemporary wisdom. President Jacob Zuma knows the struggle for freedom.That is why he sang 'Umshina wami' when white racists were vying for his blood during corruption scandals.

Malema speaks the unpopular truth, which is too much for many - including some black people - to handle. The comments, which Malema made to the BBC journalist, were in bad taste. But I have a question. How many times has this journalist burst out during presentations?

If Malema were white, would he have disrupted a presentation the way he did? Was he too impatient to wait for the question and answer session? I am told Malema took questions after his presentation. I wonder what the headline might have been if a black journalist had behaved the same way as this BBC reporter in a British press conference.

Julius Malema is a capable leader because he does not hide the truth. I think he sleeps better at night than most rulers who have to be double faced to survive. They have to endorse diplomacy, a language of peace and love and yet they curse themselves at night.

Richard Branson, in his book 'Stripping Business Bare' relates his experiences in SA pertaining to HIV and Aids.He had a serious confrontation with the former president, Thabo Mbeki, who thought HIV and Aids is all in the mind and a result of poverty.

Mbeki had to write a long letter to Sir Branson talking about black poverty and economic imbalances. Even the South African leader could not tell that story openly. This is the route most leaders have to take.

Malema believes otherwise and for that he is being labelled many things. He chooses to be what he is and I adore him for it. Look at the media that is against Malema. What race are its editors? What stories were these publications writing during the Botha regime? If you know the answers to those questions, you know the truth.

ANC distances itself from Malema during the day but embraces him and increases his security at night. And yes he stays in Sandton. The next racist who says Malema should not feed on sweat of the poor should trace their family tree and the source of its wealth. The truth is Malema is still with the ANC because they realise he is an asset. Of course, they will never say this. The society does not expect them to, you see!