MAILBOX

It's a personal vendetta

• IN "Shedding light on us darkies" (February 20), Fred Khumalo pontificates on issues of race and identity in South Africa, but deviates to launch an absurd attack on Inkatha Freedom Party president Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

Khumalo argues that Buthelezi and others were the "master's surrogates" and "at best, they were apologists for the status quo; at worst, they were violent enforcers of the master's regime to deepen the black community's state of wretchedness."

History records that Buthelezi led the apartheid-imposed KwaZulu government at the behest of the ANC. It was Buthelezi's rejection of independence for KwaZulu that foiled the government's attempt to balkanise South Africa. According to FW de Klerk, this toppled the grand scheme of apartheid.

This has been amply recognised by President Jacob Zuma and Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, who is on the parliamentary record as describing Buthelezi as "an icon".

He has won international acclaim for championing justice and human rights, and has been awarded the George Meany Human Rights Award, the Courage Under Fire Award of the American Conservative Union and the Order of the Star of Africa, to name a few. These are the simple facts of history, which sink Khumalo's obtuse claim that Buthelezi was somehow an apartheid stooge.

Not content with only one attack on the integrity and character of the IFP president, the Sunday Times launched a second attack in the same edition. In "Zuma: no more Mr Nice Guy", Caiphus Kgosana claims that the IFP president went on "a tired rant about the ANC plotting to overthrow him".

In reality, Buthelezi presented parliament with overwhelming evidence that some leaders in the ANC are deeply embroiled in the rift that developed in the IFP. This was not over-dramatic, exaggerated or "tired". It was an expression of fact.

As a leader, the IFP president has an obligation to sound the alarm. South Africans deserve to know that the ruling party is on a campaign to get rid of opposition parties by any means.

The distortions in both these articles speak of a lack of objectivity in the Sunday Times's reporting.

It begs the question why the editor of our largest Sunday paper allows journalists to abuse the platforms they are given. Clearly this is not fair commentary on political matters, but a personal vendetta against one of South Africa's most prominent political figures. - Reverend Musa Zondi

Much ado about nothing

• I WAS amazed at the fuss being made about the use of the word "darkie" by Blade Nzimande in parliament. Over decades, we have used this word without anybody suggesting that it is offensive. Or is it only offensive when it is used in parliament?

Words such as "darkie", "laanie" and "ngamula" (meaning whites) should be included in South Africa's version of the Oxford dictionary. Speaker Nomaindia Mfeketo made a wrong ruling. I would have expected Lindiwe Mazibuko of the DA to know better as a darkie herself. - Dr PFG Mtimkulu

• AS a charou, I feel comfortable using the word "darkie" around or describing darkie friends, but I would never consider using the word in front of a stranger. My girlfriend is totally against the use of the word, even though I explained that it is colloquial, not derogatory. - Shalan Bodasing

• WHAT is really offensive about "nigger" or "darkie" is that it may not be racist if you use it among yourselves, but if a white person uses it, it becomes racist! In the end, a word and the use of it must be universally acceptable. - Andrew Dicks

• WE are darkies, though my six-year-old argues that we are not black. He thinks people are colour-blind because we are actually brown. - Gugu Mhlongo

• TRUE, bra Fred, I am proudly darkie, call myself such and other darkies. I've never received a complaint about it. That DA lady is an extreme coconut. - Sammy Mafu

• I GREW up in a township. I understand da meaning of da word "darkie". As a matter of fact, I'm not offended by its usage. But for some who have never been exposed to township slang, it might be derogatory. It is our responsibility to educate them. I'm a darkie and proud of it. - Bongani Mbatha