McGLORY SPECKMAN | AfriForum scratching where there is no itch

The report on March 25 by News24 about AfriForum’s Kallie Kriel attacking judges for ruling against them in the ‘Kill the Boer’ case is disappointing. It is no different from the trend we saw developing during the state capture years, when judges were demonised and their lives threatened for doing their work. We did not know then that the motive was to cover up and divert attention from sinister activities that were taking place where the eye could not see. What could AfriForum’s motive be in following the same trend?

From Kriel’s statement and the link it makes between the case they have lost and other grievances they and Solidarity have escalated to Washington, we may surmise that they are drumming up more support for “Afrikaner independence” within our unitary republic. The only adjectives I can think of in response are absurd, ludicrous and mischievous. They are scratching where there is no itch.

The South African courts have been a strong pillar of our democracy. They assess cases and find in line with the law and related technicalities, if any, and not with individual or political considerations, for every interpretation of the law sets a precedent for the future. Judge Sisi Khampepe made this clear in response to a question about the ruling in the Zuma 2021 conviction case.

AfriForum and Solidarity, like a few other groupings, have for long enjoyed watching tensions within, and failures of black political parties, while they threw stones from the outside. That gave them enough chance to develop parallel structures to democratically elected administrations. In other words, they undermined black-led governments throughout as long as they did not get their way, which they last got right with former president Nelson Mandela.

Thank God for the responsible leadership of the ANC, regardless of other faults we may find with them. If it were any other party, God knows where this country would be after the murder of Chris Hani

Now that the dominant black voice has been reduced, and the government is made up of both black and white party players, they either think that the time is right for them to strike a hard blow, or they fear being overtaken by elected representatives whom they see as ‘saviours’ of a government they do not recognise. Their anti-black government campaign continues to focus on the ANC and its leaders despite there being a multiparty government in the past 10 or 11 months.

They make no secret of that, but there is no strong justification for it. I do not think that, with all the brightest legal minds they have in their ranks, they see a parallel between former president Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF and the ANC’s government. The case they won for white farmers whose farms were confiscated by Mugabe’s government has no comparable circumstances in South Africa. No land has ever been confiscated since the last confiscations and forced removals were done by the apartheid government.

There is no threat of that in the future either, though white people continue to own more than 80% of the land that was forcibly taken from black people. Incidentally, the Zimbabwe case was adjudicated by the South African courts Kriel is now denigrating. If anything, their campaign amounts to political pressure and mischief.

In his criticism of the judgment, Kriel expresses fear for the future of “his children”, saying that the government has not condemned the incitement to kill them. How old was he in the 1980s when the late Peter Mokaba used to chant the slogan? How many white people have been killed then and today as a result of that slogan during toyi-toyis? By comparison, how many black people were killed by the apartheid police then and by white farmers after the inauguration of democracy?

That aside, which black criminals and murderers have fed their victims to lions and pigs? Which evil black men have shot and killed white people, mistaking them for baboons? Which evil black people have dragged young men on the road with their trucks for stealing sunflower seeds or anything, for that matter? Yes, Kriel and AfriForum must tell Mr Trump which perverted black employers have forced their domestic workers to have sex with dogs. Does the answer to these lie in mobilising whole communities to rise as a racial bloc and separate itself from others, or engage in destructive activities that affect innocent people? Obviously not.

The intransigence of AfriForum, even after the strong reaction by South Africans across the political and racial spectra, makes life difficult for people who are trying to bring about reconciliation. The more they act the way they do, the wider and deeper the wound of the past opens. We cannot run away from the fact that much of the damage and hurt caused by apartheid has not been halfway addressed. What appears to be a slow pace is the result of a resolve to persuade rather than beat each other into submission.

Thank God for the responsible leadership of the ANC, regardless of other faults we may find with them. If it were any other party, God knows where this country would be after the murder of Chris Hani. God alone knows where we would be today after the last election. If organisations like AfriForum think they now have an opportunity to push for concessions because the buffalo is on the ground, they are out of touch with patriotic South Africans. They have just managed to galvanise the true South African spirit.

The next national election, despite the surveys and forecasts to the contrary, will bring them a huge surprise. If the welcome home of Ebrahim Rasool has not given them a taste of what to expect in the future, they will never learn. This is because these groups are scratching where it is not itchy. In doing so, they keep on reminding black people of the collective trauma that the government is trying to address through various interventions.

They must just remember that our laws are made in Cape Town, not in Washington. Any change made to the laws will be debated and voted for in Cape Town and signed in Pretoria, not between extra-parliamentary groups and Washington. Our democracy is not so cheap. People died for it. People were willing to starve for it, and people left their country to go and endure hardships in training camps so we could have this democracy. That spirit may only be lingering for now, but it is indomitable.

• Dr McGlory Speckman is honorary professor at UKZN, a former political activist, campaigner of sanctions against the apartheid regime, had long spells in detention under apartheid and anti-corruption researcher and activist. He writes in his personal capacity.

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