Africa

South Africans are gearing up for many fights in 2009. It increasingly appears that one of these, sure to be among the most explosive, may be a serious reconsideration of the role, efficacy, and direction of affirmative action. The Congress of the People (COPE) has made clear its serious concerns over the nature of affirmative action as it plays out in South Africa. Recent COPE convert Allan Boesak has made clear his concerns, as have Trevor Tutu, son of Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Prize Laureate, the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR), and so many others. This has inevitably created a defensive response in numerous circles, not the least being Jacob Zuma. Do not be surprised if the differences between the ANC and COPE on affirmative action frame the country’s political debate in the year to come. 

At The Mail & Guardian Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya undertakes a pretty sound (and enjoyable to behold) thrashing of Connie Mulder’s Freedom Front Plus party’s claims for special recognition for Afrikaners  from the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO). Here is a taste:

What freedom is Mulder and his chommies asking for? From whom? Freedom is the antithesis of restriction. It is always essential for freedom fighters to identify their cause and their oppressor.

Don’t hold your breath hoping that the FF+ will spell these out coherently any time soon.

The Afrikaners are not unfree or restricted in any way. Sure the SABC is no longer called the SAUK, but as recent events show, there are much more important issues we should worry about relating to the public broadcaster.

Incidentally, the same broadcaster still has more news, drama and content in Afrikaans than the Shangaan, Venda, Ndebele and Swazi put together. This, and the many cultural festivals that dot the arts calendar, don’t justify Mulder’s talk of linguistic and cultural marginalisation.

Do Mulder and those in whose name he acts not know that they and their children are still allowed to pursue their education, including higher education, in their mother tongue?

Other than English first-language speakers, no one else in this country enjoys this privilege.

One of the more ironic aspects of Mulder’s entreaties is that he seeks victim status and thus special protections when for so long Afrikaners not only derided such claims from others, but perpetrated the grossest of systems designed to abnegate the identity of the masses of South Africans. Huge swaths of the Afrikaner community reject affirmative action in almost every other form, except of course the affirmative action that was endemic in the South African system for generations.