As officials defer to Thabo Mbeki at Kenya’s election centre
Mbeki, you failed Kenyans
Dear Ntate Thabo Mbeki
When I heard you were in my country for election monitoring, I was pleased that an elder statesman who had trail-blazed the African Renaissance, fought against illicit financial flows and played a major role in mitigating violence in Darfur would be representing our continental institution.
I had hope that your years of experience and exposure to the good and evil that men do would make you an astute and steadfast pillar on the side of what is right and just.
And now all I have is questions.
When you were choosing to side with a war crimes indictee who scuttled an international court process, did you at the very least make any safeguards?
Did you obtain any guarantees that he would not again kill Kenyans and put in place mechanisms to countercheck that he did not?
Or did you just cross your fingers and hope that the “collateral damage” would be minimal?
When you recline in the safety of your perch, do you block out the screams of my fellow women who are having wars waged on their bodies, on their children and in their homes?
Is that how you sleep at night?
Are you going to let him brutally deal with any dissent in the country to solidify his so-called election?
Is there any chance that you will think of and intervene for the poor and vulnerable people of Kenya who have borne the brunt of this attack?
I can understand that the Europeans and Americans have their vested interests, but you, Ntate, you who have lauded the imperative of African solidarity and touted the ideals of pan-Africanism, from you I expected solidarity with the people, and not the government of Kenya. Even though you denied the existence of xenophobia in South Africa, I still had hope, I had faith that your wisdom and ubuntu would prevail.
Ntate, what have you left us with? – An outraged Kenyan Luo woman
Open-minded McKaiser deserves high praise
I refer to the letter by Trevor Rutherford ( McKaiser’s mission is short-sighted). Eusebius McKaiser’s grasp of South Africa today, his uniquely sharp assessment of forces at play, and his grasp of the subtleties of institutional and other form of racism make him a great resident columnist and an influential talk-show host on Radio 702/Cape Talk.
He is passionate, but unusually open and fair, even with his bias towards justice for the poor and the marginalised.
He readily acknowledges his baggage and is able interrogate his weaknesses.
These are rare characteristics in South Africa. Ten Mackaisers in all ethnic languages would still be too few. He is gracious with those with whom he disagrees, and shows us how to engage in a dialogue even if we have different views. He is correct to engage supremicists like many of us privileged paler South Africans.
I support his call to ostracise and not to do business with people who do not love and respect our Constitution. Racism is an evil scourge of the past 300 years in our country and continent. We should all stand against it and in all ways make our positions clear about it, rejecting it as not acceptable. You are either for or against racism.
In his talk shows he has held politicians to account.
I think he plays an important role in our developing democracy, and that his contribution is perhaps underrated.
MacKaiser is not perfect, but he is so much better and more passionate than many who have gone before him. – Mike Pickstone-Taylor, Franschhoek
Disgraced leaders above the law
The Mail & Guardian’s page three editorial (“Women’s Month just proves it: Our leaders are trash) is spot on. The latest attack on a woman by a minister of the state, Deputy Education Minister Mduduzi Manana, sums up a litany of disgusting events, starting with the woman who was strong enough to get Jacob Zuma charged with rape.
The balance of proof in a patriarchal act is difficult in a society based on misogyny. The despicable part is that Zuma thought he could wash his sins, and HIV, away. The ANC Women’s League supported him.
Let’s not forget Julius Malema’s “taxi-fare” jibe, or the ANC’s enforcer, the super-smooth minister in the presidency, Jeff Radebe – transmitting pornographic images is against the Posts and Telecommunications Acts – but all we got was a staged apology. Dismissal and counselling may have been better.
The video of Manana beating a woman while his friends held her went viral, but there was a deafening silence from the ANC until social media had reached fever pitch. Even then, neither the minister nor his friends were arrested. After almost a week, the police drove him to court.
These are the politicians elected to govern South Africa in the interest of the people. – Tom Morgan