TWO things that happened this week made me wonder about whether we will ever really be able to resolve the serious issues in our society. The one is the strike by South African Airways workers, which is the personification of flogging a dead horse, and the other is the rejection, in some quarters, of the new Eskom CEO because he is white.
South Africans are very quick to use the race card, and given our history, that is not unexpected. Our reality is one in which the majority of poor people are black and their lives have not improved much in our 25-odd years of democracy.
But just because the majority are black, does not mean that only blacks have to be part of the solution to our problems. It also does not mean that only white people can be blamed for the current situation that we find ourselves in. It is not unreasonable to expect that we would have done better in 25 years.
South Africa’s history is filled with examples of people classified as white who made huge sacrifices in order to overthrow apartheid and move our country to one in which the rights of all are respected.
One can think here of people such as the Reverend Beyers Naude, who forsook his Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk roots to join the struggle; Bram Fischer, who made an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the dynamics in our society; Denis Goldberg, who was sentenced to life imprisonment alongside Nelson Mandela and others in the Rivonia Trial; Albie Sachs and Father Michael Lapsley, who were both victims of letter-bomb attacks and carry the scars to this day; and Ruth First and Joe Slovo, whose contribution to the struggle for freedom can never be quantified.
These people had more in common with the majority of South Africans – who merely wanted a better life for most if not all South Africans – than they had in common with the white minority who were oppressing and exploiting us.
But there are many more who might be classified white who are also looking for ways in which they can contribute to making our country the great place we all know it can be.
Eskom and SAA are two of the sores that continue to reflect badly on our country. Our economy will not survive unless Eskom is pulled right urgently and the race of the person who is tasked with sorting out the mess should not matter.
The people who are always making a noise about wanting only black people or only women to be appointed to senior positions in our society do not understand the non-racial nature of our struggle, our history and our society.
Being black or a woman does not necessarily mean that you will advance the rights of blacks or women. I have known many white men who have done more to advance the rights of blacks and women, but who have not wanted to be acknowledged for their actions.
At the Monday Blues tribute to poet Sandile Dikeni on Monday night, his former colleague Ryan Fortune recalled that Dikeni taught him that there were only two kinds of people in the world: progressives and reactionaries and that you could not choose, for instance, to be non-racist while being sexist or claim to be non-sexist while being racist or homophobic.
I agree with this argument. There are many progressive whites and reactionary blacks.
The only colour that should matter is grey, which is often associated with intelligence. The people who complain loudest about racial or gender discrimination often have only their own interests are heart. They do not really care about the majority. If they did, they would realise the need for all hands to be on deck in order to realise the true potential of our country. If a white person can sort out Eskom, he deserves our support. As for SAA, the sooner the unions realise that the airline (and by extension the strikers) cannot continue to live off our taxes, the better.Two things that happened this week made me wonder about whether we will ever really be able to resolve the serious issues in our society. The one is the strike by South African Airways workers, which is the personification of flogging a dead horse, and the other is the rejection, in some quarters, of the new Eskom CEO because he is white.
South Africans are very quick to use the race card, and given our history, that is not unexpected. Our reality is one in which the majority of poor people are black and their lives have not improved much in our 25-odd years of democracy.
But just because the majority are black, does not mean that only blacks have to be part of the solution to our problems. It also does not mean that only white people can be blamed for the current situation that we find ourselves in. It is not unreasonable to expect that we would have done better in 25 years.
South Africa’s history is filled with examples of people classified as white who made huge sacrifices in order to overthrow apartheid and move our country to one in which the rights of all are respected.
One can think here of people such as the Reverend Beyers Naude, who forsook his Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk roots to join the struggle; Bram Fischer, who made an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the dynamics in our society; Denis Goldberg, who was sentenced to life imprisonment alongside Nelson Mandela and others in the Rivonia Trial; Albie Sachs and Father Michael Lapsley, who were both victims of letter-bomb attacks and carry the scars to this day; and Ruth First and Joe Slovo, whose contribution to the struggle for freedom can never be quantified.
These people had more in common with the majority of South Africans – who merely wanted a better life for most if not all South Africans – than they had in common with the white minority who were oppressing and exploiting us.
But there are many more who might be classified white who are also looking for ways in which they can contribute to making our country the great place we all know it can be.
Eskom and SAA are two of the sores that continue to reflect badly on our country. Our economy will not survive unless Eskom is pulled right urgently and the race of the person who is tasked with sorting out the mess should not matter.
The people who are always making a noise about wanting only black people or only women to be appointed to senior positions in our society do not understand the non-racial nature of our struggle, our history and our society.
Being black or a woman does not necessarily mean that you will advance the rights of blacks or women. I have known many white men who have done more to advance the rights of blacks and women, but who have not wanted to be acknowledged for their actions.
At the Monday Blues tribute to poet Sandile Dikeni on Monday night, his former colleague Ryan Fortune recalled that Dikeni taught him that there were only two kinds of people in the world: progressives and reactionaries and that you could not choose, for instance, to be non-racist while being sexist or claim to be non-sexist while being racist or homophobic.
I agree with this argument. There are many progressive whites and reactionary blacks.
The only colour that should matter is grey, which is often associated with intelligence. The people who complain loudest about racial or gender discrimination often have only their own interests are heart. They do not really care about the majority. If they did, they would realise the need for all hands to be on deck in order to realise the true potential of our country. If a white person can sort out Eskom, he deserves our support. As for SAA, the sooner the unions realise that the airline (and by extension the strikers) cannot continue to live off our taxes, the better.
(First published as a Thinking Allowed column in the Weekend Argus on Saturday, 23 November 2019)
