Racism is essential to human behaviour
I have no idea who Bryan Rostron is or what his claim to fame might be. What I do know is that like so many South Africans who think as he does on race, he has little understanding of biology (“The heart of whiteness”, Mail & Guardian, December 22 to January 4).
Most of the debate about racism in this country assumes that it is some sort of aberrant behaviour peculiar to white South Africans. As any white or black who has lived overseas will tell you, this is not so. Racism is alive and well in all parts of the world. What he reports in his article is very much to be expected. Just as one can no longer find a white who supported apartheid, it is now difficult to find a white who is not overtly racist.
The answer to this is simple. All living organisms are by definition “racist” for the simple reason that this is the cornerstone of speciation and the driving force behind the survival of the species. If one understands this, then one understands why the fat child or the child with large ears or a large nose is bullied and teased in the playground.
It is the reason why turkey chicks in a confined space will instinctively peck to death the chick with a deformity. These few examples demonstrate that each creature has an innate ability to recognise features that define the species. Deviations from these parameters are unacceptable and deviants can be eliminated (which also explains why homophobia is so widespread).
That racism is commonplace among humans shows that it is an essential element that underpins our behaviour. We can no longer wish it away any more than we can exorcise fundamental emotions such as greed, jealousy or the sex drive. Like these emotions, it exists at the cellular level and there is not much that Rostron or any number of anti-racism conferences can do about it. C Rogers, Durban
Whom is Bryan Rostron trying to convince? His protestation of his squeaky-clean dedication to change sounds like a dud coin and his article is a lot of undiluted sycophantic hogwash. I found it puke-inspiring. J P Fleuriot, Link Hills, KwaZulu-Natal
Bryan Rostron asks whether white South Africans will “condemn themselves to become the final colonial caricature in Africa”. He then equates the Democratic Alliance’s campaign against African National Congress inefficiency and maladministration with “swart gevaar” and with the racially disparaging remarks made by some of his white friends.
The ANC is not synonomous with black South Africans any more than the DA equals white South Africans. My suggestion to Rostron is that he make new friends, get a life and stop racially classifying his friends. The DA’s criticism of the ANC has nothing to do with skin colour. It has everything to do with its failed collectivist policies, which are unable to redress the legacy of apartheid. Rostron is free to be muted in his criticism of the ANC’s failure to deliver a “better life for all” because he fears being called a racist. The DA has no such fears. Stuart Pringle, Somerset West
I’ll do it my way
It is in the nature of life to seek to spread, colonise, perpetuate one’s own form/species/ nation at the expense of others. It is the force that has driven mankind to populate far corners of the earth and look beyond to the stars.
There are also those among us, of all creeds and colours, who strive to enforce their will and their beliefs on the rest of us, and who employ brutality and sadism to do so. These are simple facts of science and history, for which apology and the apportionment of blame on a racial basis are inappropriate.
I am far too insignificant to be pressed to sign the declaration that many eminent whites have already signed. It seems to me to be nothing more than a cynical political ploy on the part of its originators, and I would not sign it in any case, under any circumstances.
What in God’s name is there to apologise for? For being human? However, in return I shall not demand or expect any thanks from my black fellow citizens for my part in handing over to their custody a relatively flourishing and wealthy state. Ray Flanagan
Ndebele needs disciplining
It is worrying that there is still no official response from the leadership of the ANC nearly a month after S’bu Ndebele threatened non-ANC voters in KwaZulu-Natal. He declared: “To all the Africans, coloureds and Indians who voted DA, be warned that there would be consequences for not voting for the ANC. When it comes to service delivery, we will start with the people who voted for us and you will be last …”
The issue is too serious to be glossed over. I am a lifelong supporter of the ANC and I hold no truck with the DA. But there are several aspects of the Ndebele statement that are of deep concern. The excitement of the moment is no excuse for utterances that go against everything the ANC stands for, fought so valiantly against and for which many of its leaders paid the ultimate price. Moreover, his statement violates the very Constitution the ANC was instrumental in designing and which serves as a model for other emerging nations.
Secondly, I am concerned by Ndebele’s refusal to apologise and admit he committed a faux pas of major proportions. The least one would expect from Ndebele is an unconditional retraction and apology. His statement cannot be defended under any circumstances.
Thirdly, is it not Ndebele, as leader of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal, who must take responsibility for the ANC’s relatively “poor” showing in KwaZulu-Natal, where the Inkatha Freedom Party took the major portion of the vote, with the DA making significant inroads?
Finally, the deafening silence from the ANC hierarchy is of even more concern than the statement itself. I appeal to the leadership of the ANC to act immediately to undo the tremendous damage that Ndebele’s ill-considered comments have caused.
If this intervention does not materialise, the prospect of further alienating a significantly large number of its constituents, including long-standing ANC supporters, becomes a distinct possibility. This can and must be avoided. No individual, no matter how high in rank, is above the organisation. Logan Naidu, Durban
Leon’s D at odds with voters
Your rating of Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon (“The good, the bad and the ugly: The 2000 report card”, December 22 to January 4) at a “D” is so far off target that it raises serious doubts about the credibility of your other ratings. If you find the alliance of the Democratic Party with the remains of the New National Party “difficult to understand” then you are at variance with opposition voters who have just given the DA an “A” rating.
Proof of this is the 6% increase in votes the DA got on December 5. Whereas the combined DP, NNP and Federal Alliance support base was 17% in June 1999, under the DA it has grown to 23%. Politics is the art of the possible. For too long opposition parties have ignored that. It’s time the M&G acknowledged that and put its prejudices aside. Duncan Du Bois, Durban
Horror of the ‘good schools’
Robert Kirby’s piece on corporal punishment (“Spoil the rod, spare the child”, December 22 to January 4) was amusing but it raises a deeper issue that many of our most highly regarded schools are pretty awful places at which to be educated.
I attended one of South Africa’s well-known boys’ high schools. Corporal punishment was administered for the most minor “offences” having your blazer button undone and farting in class being two of the more ridiculous. A classmate who was caned for punching a pupil was told by the headmaster he was being punished because the school could not permit violence. I doubt the headmaster saw the irony.
Violence was endemic. If it wasn’t the staff, it was the pupils. The bullying and initiation that occurred was brutal. I witnessed pupils being picked up by their hair, being forced to head-butt each other repeatedly. I was chased around the school by cricket-bat-wielding hooligans. And there were no repercussions at all it was seen as a rite of passage and was tacitly sanctioned by the establishment.
Even worse, though, was the emotional abuse. There were teachers who clearly should have been raising vipers rather than young adults ghastly people who seemed to take perverse pleasure in humiliating their pupils. And among the pupils things were not much better. I was ridiculed for having a hare lip by a class mate, who, if I met him now, would probably never dream of speaking to another human being the way he spoke to me.
What causes this kind of abuse?
The problem is the institution itself the stuffy English public school traditions, the inherent elitism, the authoritarianism. When pupils have to humiliate each other to establish their place in the pecking order, there is something deeply wrong with the institution. They destroy your self-confidence. There is no chance for individuality in such a place.
Would I send my child to the school I went to or anything like it? Not a chance. Christopher Hessian, Woodstock, Cape Town
Falling standards
What is happening to the M&G? It used to be, in my opinion, South Africa’s top investigative newspaper. The standard declined in December. Do sales figures need boosting?
The two articles on the Christian faith were poorly argued, inadequately researched, and presented in a manner that made fun of extremely important issues. Some of the letters received in response were far more knowledgeable, well-researched and of a far higher quality.
Then, in the December 15 to 21 edition, you printed pictures that many would consider pornographic, with the article “A world where men are on top”. I am prepared to dialogue with those who have entirely different views on what constitutes morality and pornography. But why do I have to see pictures I can choose to see in any porn magazine in order to do so?
What offended me most of all was that there was no warning about nudity in the edition when I bought it. This did not allow me to exercise my right of choice on what I allow into my home, let my children see and feed into my mind. It shows marked insensitivity to the many like myself who do not want to look at pictures of almost-naked women.
Moreover, in this age of female empowerment, showing the pictures does not reinforce the arguments of the article but perpetuates an attitude towards women that degrades them and treats them as sex objects. Please endeavour to retain your high standards and refrain from such poor-quality journalism in the new year. Roger Tucker, Rondebosch
Cattle to blame, not plague
Fred Pearce’s misleading article, “The microbe that shaped Africa” (December 15 to 21), needs to be challenged. It is not the rinderpest plague but domestic stock that has really shaped Africa. Long before cattle were introduced into Africa, all indigenous people relied on wildlife as a source of protein.
The fact that no particular African tribe could claim sole ownership of wildlife meant that wild animals were never commercialised for wealth and status. This is unlike domestic stock, which became over-abundant to the detriment of savannah grasslands from the Sahara to the Cape. Cattle changed the ecology of Africa and caused rampant erosion, particularly in vital catchment areas.
The scene was set for rinderpest to sweep across the continent through domestic stock while at the same time devastating human and wildlife populations. It now is widely accepted that the kingdoms, which Pearce portrays with Rousseau’s romanticism as having lived in perfect harmony with their environment, went into decline because of habitat destruction from too many stock. Scrub encroachment is nature’s way of healing the denuded habitats that are favoured by tsetse and its host killer parasite trypanosome.
Domestic stock husbandry, formal or informal, has been the principal cause of habitat destruction and associated social upheaval in most African countries. Billions of dollars have been spent on erecting barbed-wire barriers the “walls of death” that have been responsible for killing large numbers of wildlife in Botswana.
Other impacts include aerial spraying with lethal chemicals to eradicate the tsetse fly to make room for cattle. The nagana campaign in the Fifties resulted in the mass destruction of wildlife in Southern Africa. May the tsetse survive the human onslaught. And strength to the conservation organisations fighting to save the last vestiges of wilderness and its wildlife against opportunistic politicians threatening the ecological integrity of our postage-sized parks and reserves. Paul and Sheila Dutton, Durban
What’s gone wrong with SA fiction?
When JM Coetzee won the Booker Prize in 1999 I published a letter in the Mail & Guardian not only congratulating him, but also celebrating the fact that he had brought South African fiction back on to the national agenda. Now Shaun de Waal has written to ask where are the new black writers (“Where are our YBWs?”, December 22 2000 to January 4 2001).
My dear Shaun, my personal lament over the years has been, rather, what has gone wrong with South African fiction since the advent of democracy? For a writer to compose a solid novel/story, that writer needs all the time — and support — he or she can muster. What kind of support can we expect, however, when as recently as November last year those of us who applied for project development funding from the National Arts Council were told there were simply no funds? What does the future hold for creative literature — a very private calling — when the council urges us to “work with others” in our future projects.
For Pete’s sake, creative writing (and many other art forms) is a highly individualistic process. Some while ago I came across an enterprising young black writer, David Nekhavhambe, who publishes his books himself and sells them at game parks and other tourist destinations in the Northern Province. My attempts to interest institutions such as the Publishers’ Association of South Africa, the Centre for the Book and, indeed, this august publication about young David’s career came to naught.
In our search for young black writers, let us also not confine ourselves only to those who write in English. Since the onset of democracy, the Nhlanhla Maakes, Gomolemo Mokaes, Thilivhali Mudaus and Thuli Nhlapos have been trailblazing in their respective mother tongues. If only the Shaun de Waals of this world could take the quantum leap and learn these African languages. — Johnny Masilela, Pretoria
‘The serious novel is the product of an entrenched bourgeoisie with surplus skills on its hands.” — Shaun de Waal’s reason for the lack of young black writers in South Africa today is just a simplistic shot in the dark. The European and American experience has been that writers come from all classes and not just the bourgeoisie, whether entrenched or otherwise.
Good writers as well as a lot of bad writers need to have a passion for what they do and the lure of well-paid copywriting and business tracts, which is just as real in the developed world as in South Africa, has nothing to do with the absence of a serious novel by a black writer at the present time. As far as the unicorn is concerned, surely it was elusive and not evasive. — Ivor Arnold
In bad taste
A newspaper of your standing and excellence does not have to use the sort of language shown on your front page of December 22 2000 to January 4 2001: “Who’s made it on to the M&G’s hot shit 100 list?” The same is true of the photographs shown in support of your article on pornography.
They reveal a lack of sensitivity that degrades your newspaper. We don’t want a Sunday School weekly. We also don’t want a newspaper that lacks the courage to bring the truth to its readers. But there is a point at which the raw truth ends and bad taste begins. — Annette Mills, Kimberley
The fight must go on
The security industry is one of the lowest-paying industries in our country, despite the harsh working conditions. While I strongly condemn the rampage by some elements among the striking security guards who assaulted journalists, non-striking guards and other innocent people, the inattention and ignorance of the Department of Labour on the issue is deeply frustrating. It is high time that the contempt with which our security workers are treated came to an end.
It really does not make sense to have people risking their lives for the poor wages and working conditions these workers are forced to accept. And it is unfortunate to see that some security trade unions, such as the Democratic Union for Security Workers, have opted not to participate in the industrial action.
The South African National Security Employers’ Association, and the security industry at large, must come out of its cocoon and shed its exploitative mentality. The Department of Labour must roll up its sleeves and make sure there is peace and real freedom in the industry. Who must die before decisive action is taken to resolve this matter?
Our security guards are subject to long working hours, do not have any opportunities to further their studies for self-development and have no medical schemes. Yet the salaries they earn are not worth the trouble. The fight against exploitation of workers must continue. — Marumo Mabokwane (former security worker), Tembisa
Let us make our own choices
Although my heart was sad at the content of Bryan Rostron’s article, “The heart of whiteness” (December 22 2000 to January 4 2001), it was somehow also comforting to hear that others have been through it, too. I was pleased that he had the courage to express, eloquently and incisively, something I have experienced so often that I feel called upon now to add my piece.
In the 10 years of running the NGO known as Talk, which has as its mission to foster an appreciation of and respect for our diversity through the learning of African languages and cultures, I have encountered hundreds of black and white South Africans who have been willing to learn from and about one another. All say they have been immensely enriched by discovering unimaginable warmth and welcoming beyond their own traditional circles.
To all these people, qhubekani — let us continue to walk this path together as we teach our children to do the same. To those who are on a different path, that’s OK, too. People are free to choose how they wish to experience the world, and the challenge lies in allowing all of us our choices without getting angry, bitter, despairing, self-righteous or, above all, judgemental.
My Christmas Day had a sweet ending when my son’s young Hindu schoolmate phoned to wish us a Happy Christmas. It struck me that in a country like ours, there is special significance in celebrating God-made-man, because we are all God-made-man-and-woman … just sometimes in the hysteria of our past we forget to remember this. — Judy Connors, the Talk project
Setting it straight
I am compelled to comment on the article, entitled “Education’s year of turbulence”, by David Macfarlane that appeared in your December 15 to 21 2000 issue. It is unfortunate that commentators and analysts of the kind of Macfarlane fail to verify their sources of information. There are two points to which I would like to draw attention.
I do not think it is helpful to conclude on the basis of the facts presented in his article that the motto of the Department of Education, “Tirisano”, is a case of wishful thinking. To many educationalists it is evident that the steps and measures taken since 1994 to address the deficiencies in our education system are commendable.
Education in South Africa has been in a mess for a long time, and the current legislation and remedial measures cannot reverse the effects of 300 years of mis-education in a matter of six or 10 years. In the same way that South African education was the product of a highly sophisticated political and economic philosophy, the reversal process must be informed by a fully conceptualised political framework. And, as everyone knows, education is a very complex business.
The references to Vista University in the article are ill-informed. It is untrue to say that Vista has no funds to pay salaries after March. It is a well-known fact that subsidies are paid to higher education institutions in April — in fact Vista will be able to pay salaries before and after March. What is true is that Vista is committed to reducing its levels of expenditure, including its salary budget.
Promotions mean money. And, as part of the responsible measures taken, promotions were put on halt for certain categories two years back. As student numbers decline, it becomes necessary to review staff-student ratios in certain departments, and if this review results in retrenchments, it has to be preceded by a whole host of measures. The article states “that a credit balance three years ago has now mysteriously become a massive overdraft”.
This is a serious allegation. Vista is not operating on an overdraft and the “credit balance” referred to has been ploughed into development projects to the value of R186-million. A visit to any of our eight campuses will demonstrate the kinds of projects that have been financed: libraries, laboratories, classroom blocks, lecture halls and equipment. — Professor HP Africa, vice-chancellor, Vista University
Catching crooked lawyers
In November last year alone the press reported thefts by lawyers from their clients of about R284,5-million. At this rate, lawyers could be stealing more than R3-billion over each 12-month period. We need a special police unit, like the Scorpions, to deal with crooked lawyers. — Richard Benson, Rondebosch
A check on magistrates
We refer to the report “Passing sentence under the influence”(December 15 to 21 2000). The purpose of this statement is not to defend the indefensible but rather to bring matters into context and to inform the public that the Judicial Officer Association of South Africa (Joasa) is, in fact, doing something about the matter.
Joasa is the professional association to which judicial officers (magistrates and judges) may belong. It was established in 1997 and is funded entirely by its 1 200 members. In all professions individuals at times may buckle under the stresses and strains of our modern era. History teaches us that this also occurs in the ranks of kings, queens and national leaders worldwide. We do not wish to use that as an excuse.
On the contrary, Joasa accepts collective responsibility for the ills of our peers, though under strong objection by some members. It proves our commitment to the public and our responsibility regarding difficult problems. We trust that this will be appreciated by all and will be seen as a starting point to address the issue. Joasa appreciates and endorses the fact that, as reported by the M&G, “some are sympathetic to the long hours and difficult conditions under which magistrates have to work”.
The leadership of Joasa is constantly working on the general morale of judicial officers while the disciplinary committee of the Magistrates Commission, with which we co-operate in deserving cases, takes appropriate steps to cleanse the profession when necessary. Joasa also appreciates the efforts of assistance made by organisations such as Business Against Crime in these respects.
Lastly, Joasa appreciates objective, factually correct, apolitical and non-sensation seeking reports that draw our attention to matters of concern. We are committed to act responsibly and with due vigour when appropriate. — D van der Merwe, National Secretary: Joasa