KEITH RICHBURG’S article, “Thank God my ancestor got out” (May 16 to 22), appears as an interesting coincidence. The very same week, in my Afro-American poetry class, I have been explaining to my students why, in spite of lying at the bottom of the social heap for centuries, Afro-Americans would not countenance the idea of returning to their mother country.
I used the following first line of an 18th century poem by a slave for illustration: “‘Twas mercy brought me from my pagan land.” How amazing that two centuries later an identical sentiment is expressed toward Africa.
I am reminded of a slogan which to me pertinently responds to such sentiments: “We Africans prefer dignity in poverty and shame to racial inferiority in riches”. – Dr SA Dseagu, University of the North
* I REFER to your extract from Out of America by Keith Richburg. I am surprised a paper of the calibre of the Mail & Guardian could dare give credit to such an insulting book.
If it was not taken out of context, then Richburg is the typical case of the rapist asking his subject why [s]he is in pain. Your father cuts off someone’s hands and then accuses him of being handicapped.
It is apparent this book lacks any research into the subject matter. I would like the author to inquire into the causes, instead of relying on mere observations.
Africa would never have these problems without the West’s prescription. All the monsters that we have in Africa in the name of rulers have been groomed by the West. On page two of the same edition, you clearly suggested so.
Why is the West having troops on standby in Congo? They would never let Laurent Kabila rule if they think he will serve his people and not their interest – two conflicting roles that cannot be played by the same people.
If Richburg wanted us to learn something from his book, he should have done a proper inquiry into causes, problems and solutions. A real child never laughs at his mother’s tormentors, he looks for ways to assist the mother. – Pino Chikano, Cape Town
* THERE is nothing wrong with Afrika, with all its “tragedies”!
Afrika is the oldest coherent nation in all the world: what this means is that Afrika has a long and varied past, and the past forms the present.
Why shouldn’t there be genocides in Afrika, starvation, poverty and glorified kings? Which race on the planet today has not exposed its dark depths of a past of barbarity, depravity and oppression?
What did the British do to the native Americans? To the Afrikans? What did the Chinese do to the Tibetans? What did Lenin do? Bosnia?
Keith Richburg is a shallow, low-grade African-American who has sold his soul for a mess of pottage, added to his grovelling inferiority complex: a typical slavish mentality!
The cathartic process that Afrika is passing through now is normal at this time in world history. And surely Laurent Kabila’s campaign against the kleptocratic tyrant Mobutu Sese Seko is indicative of a turning point in Afrika’s history (of bloodletting, Richburg!)
In any case what is happening in Afrika now was prophesied thousands of years ago in the books of the Bible (including the excluded one!) and those same books say that about this time Afrika shall be rejuvenated, redeemed – for the healing of the nations! Will Richburg stay out? We will watch. – Dread Masuku, Pan-Afrikan Youth Movement, Bulawayo
* NOBODY can dispute the truth of the facts witnessed by Keith Richburg. Nobody should condemn or try to stop him from making them public. They are not the only facts about human society and about Africa. Some people might, therefore, take issue with how he contrasts them with life and with developments “in the democratic camp”.
In the state he was in after three years, not living normally and covering the establishment of democracies in Africa, he was traumatised and his opinion is, and was, that he is better off as an American. That is again fine. It is his democratic right.
It might not be shared by several of his former peers at school who are part of the 33% of young black men who are in prison, for example.
The state in which certain parts of Africa find themselves is sad, repulsive and causes anger. But the whole of Africa is not in such a state. Not even half of Africa, in fact, is wracked by war, famine and cholera. That is a fact.
Richburg is happy with his good fortune, so are many others here with theirs. Even his speculation about how his forebears ended up as slaves centres on an African ruler having caused the said circumstance.
The victims of rape, hot-iron branding and lynchings in the past 30 years and Rodney King might feel less blessed by living in “the democratic camp”. – Vuyisa Qunta, Azanian People’s Organisation, Cape Town
* THANK God my ancestors got out of Yugoslavia? Afghanistan? Iraq? Vietnam? Cambodia? Chile? In short, thank God I was not born in the Third World. Anybody could shout these sentiments in the “civilised world”.
He is not the first to show the “brutal”, “despotic” continent in its “true colours”. Eddy L Harris did the job with An African- American’s Journey of Disillusionment Through the Heart of Africa, where he finally found comfort in the Sandton Sun.
Africa is not just one homogeneous unit, it is diverse. I wonder what Egypt, South Africa, Mali and Mozambique have in common, except for their shared experience of colonialism. Africa is politically, economically, geographically, linguistically and whatever else-ically diverse.
The word “African-American” only denotes a racial identity; otherwise we all know African-Americans are Americans. Richburg is not the first to realise his American- ness. How Out of America is going to help solve the racial problems and contribute towards fucked-up discourse on race in the United States is beyond me. – Ayaz Ahmed, Johannesburg
Get land dispute right
THE article dealing with a dispute between Neville Fletcher and Clarence Makwetu (“Give us back our land, whites tell Makwetu”, May 16 to 22) attacks my personal integrity. It implies I have dishonourably and improperly used my power in order to favour Makwetu. It is probably defamatory, but that is not the point. The M&G did not contact me for comment.
The article is false in its essentials:
* The very foundation is false: I have never done anything to prevent or obstruct Fletcher buying the land to which he is entitled. When I first learnt of the matter, I immediately gave instructions that the land should be sold to Fletcher, as decided by the old Commission on Land Allocation.
* Fletcher has not twice “won” a case in the Land Claims Court: that court has never even heard his case.
The main problem in finalising the matter has been delays in the implementation of an agreement between Fletcher and Makwetu – which I agreed to support, but which I neither suggested nor forced on Fletcher.
There have been delays in surveying the land for sub-division and for registering a servitude for road access. Makwetu is responsible for these costs.
A secondary cause of delay has been a dispute between members of the Fletcher family as to which of them is entitled to the land.
If the M&G would like further details, I would be happy to supply these – as I would have done earlier, if asked. Instead, what apparently happened is this: a reporter received allegations which suggested serious misconduct on my part. The reporter and the M&G simply decided the allegations were true, and published them as fact. No attempt whatsoever was made to check the truth of the story with me.
* would expect a serious newspaper to check a story such as this, for two reasons. First, the source is an interested party to a dispute about which he has deep feelings – enough reason to do a check. Secondly, the story is a damaging attack on someone who has had no opportunity to respond – contrary to all journalistic ethics of which I am aware.
It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that neither the reporter nor the newspaper cared whether the story was true, as long as it showed some “scandal” on the part of the people in power.
People in positions of power have to be held accountable for their actions. That is part of the function of the press, and I completely support it, as I always have. But the press should surely also be accountable. Power takes many forms.
* believe the M&G owes me (and its readers) an apology. – Derek Hane-kom, Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs
* Our reporter did make substantial attempts to establish the truth of the matter. She tried to get information from the Eastern Cape Land Commission, which referred the issue to the Ministry of Land Affairs, which then referred it to the department, which was only able to give limited details. The department referred the reporter to the interested party, who made the statements Hanekom says are untrue.
The M&G accepts Hanekom’s explanation and apologises for not having afforded him an opportunity to comment on the allegations, and for implying he used his position improperly. However, we stand by the fact that former Pan Africanist Congress leader Clarence Makwetu tried to lobby the minister for his own ends to facilitate his residence on the farm. – Editor
Death penalty is out
PATRICK MASEKO (Letters, May 9 to 15) is misinformed. Contrary to a mistaken report by an SABC radio journalist in April, neither I nor the Democratic Party have at any stage called for a referendum on the death penalty, nor will we do so in the future.
Our Constitution contains a core of fundamental human rights which are inherent to every person; they cannot be subject to referendum or removal by a temporary majority.
Attacks on the Bill of Rights are attacks on the human rights culture which the people of this country have fought to build. Rather than helping to curb crime, such attacks can only undermine the rule of law even further.
Constitutional Court Judge Richard Goldstone recently pointed out the obvious again: not only is the death penalty unconstitutional, but bringing it back will have no effect on the levels of crime. The solution to the problem is effective policing – only when criminals know they’re likely to be caught will the crime rate begin todrop. – Tony Leon, DP
Write to: Letters, Box 32362, Braamfontein, 2017. Fax: (011) 403-1025. E-mail: [email protected] Letters must be received by Tuesday noon.The editor reserves the right to edit for clarity and space.
ENDS