South Africa is a racially sensitive country. Donald Trump, in his usual predatory style, has identified this soft spot and is exploiting it for all it’s worth. It’s classic Trump politics: a divide-and-conquer strategy to pressure South Africa into playing ball on key international issues.
And just like that, we tumbled headfirst into his trap. Racial tensions have escalated since Trump last week announced he would be offering Afrikaners refugee status in the US because their land was being expropriated by government.
The US president knows how to hit where it hurts. His comment has elicited outrage. For many South Africans, the suggestion that those who speak the language of the architects of apartheid are the biggest victims in our democracy is tantamount to treason.
Of course the fact that Trump’s wild statements on land ownership in South Africa contain not even an iota of truth has done nothing to dampen emotions.
Because despite our dream of a harmonious rainbow nation, race and language remain hot potatoes in South Africa, and issues that have not been fully aired. It takes just the slightest provocation to reignite the tensions that simmer just below the surface.
Now Trump is sitting back, watching with glee the pandemonium unfolding down at the tip of Africa.
Some of us are blaming Afrikaners — more specifically AfriForum — for Trump’s executive order halting funding to South Africa. On the other side of the coin, some Afrikaners feel they are being unfairly victimised. Not all Afrikaners identify as unpatriotic citizens who would forsake South Africa given half a chance.
Take for instance Limpopo farmer Theo de Jager, who told the Sunday Times last week: “Even if the Americans offered me free transport and a hectare-for-hectare swap with land in Texas, I will not go. This is my land and the land of my fathers and I will stay here.”
Some would argue that this viewpoint is in the minority among his brethren, but even so, it is a reminder that we should not pigeonhole people based on their race or language.
Afrikaans speakers have for years been very vocal about their perceived persecution — farm attacks, mother tongue education, the conservation of their heritage and ancestry. They speak loudly and can be a cause of irritation for those who experience first-hand the huge disadvantage that black people still endure to this day and the stark inequality that prevails more than 30 years into democracy.
But just because Afrikaners shout loudly, does not mean their concerns are not valid. And just because other groupings may not speak out enough does not mean that their challenges and hardships are any less important.
Until South Africans learn to speak as one, and to understand and embrace our different perspectives and priorities, we will continue to be easily manipulated by powerful people with agendas.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.