FW de Klerk knew political change didn't threaten white privilege, says Floyd Shivambu
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EFF second-in-command Floyd Shivambu has expressed his view of why former president FW de Klerk unbanned liberal movements and released apartheid prisoners, including Nelson Mandela.
De Klerk and the situation SA finds itself in dominated conversation on social media on Sunday, as the public noted 30 years since the former president made the historic announcement which reshaped the country and its political climate.
In a series of tweets, Shivambu implied that when De Klerk delivered his speech in parliament on February 2 1990, he did so not in the interests of the formerly oppressed majority, but to advance self-interest.
He referred to comments in De Klerk's speech about Eastern Europe's economic collapse and whether liberation movements were a threat to white privilege and power.
He also reiterated his stance on who the key players in SA's economy should be, adding that “the government's basic point of departure is to reduce the role of the public sector in the economy and to give the private sector maximum opportunity for optimal performance”.
1) The 2nd of Feb 2020 marks 30 yrs since De Klerk announced the unbanning of liberation movements & release of political prisoners. This he did because the apartheid economic edifice was not under threat, & he knew that change of political power didn’t threaten white privilege.
— Floyd Shivambu (@FloydShivambu) February 2, 2020
2) De Klerk said, “The collapse, particularly of the economic system in Eastern Europe, also serves as a warning to those who insist on persisting with it in Africa. Those who seek to force this failure of a system on SA, should engage in a total revision of their point of view”
— Floyd Shivambu (@FloydShivambu) February 2, 2020
3) On the economy De Klerk said, “The Gov’s basic point of departure is to reduce the role of the public sector in the economy and to give the private sector maximum opportunity for optimal performance. In this process, preference has to be given to allowing the market forces...”
— Floyd Shivambu (@FloydShivambu) February 2, 2020
4) Reasons provided for the unbanning & release include, “The events in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, to which I have referred already, weaken the capability of organisations which were previously supported strongly from those quarters” i.e. liberation forces were weak!
— Floyd Shivambu (@FloydShivambu) February 2, 2020
5)!Reasons for unbanning include, “There have been important shifts of emphasis in the statements and points of view of the most important of the organisations concerned, which indicate a new approach and a preference for peaceful solutions” i.e. Iberatiin forces seling out.
— Floyd Shivambu (@FloydShivambu) February 2, 2020
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