28/02/2008 / SOUTH AFRICA
I got a bit
emotional when I watched the video. It was shocking; retarded, stupid bigotry.
I wish I could say that it was an isolated incident but the tragic reality is
that it's not. Everyone knows it. But these things happen, and you have to stay
rational, so that you don't become stupid like them. What was shocking was that
these people [the students] are supposed to be the intellectual ones. But in
the end I'm not surprised. What can you expect in 14 years? You can't
obliterate prejudice in a second. It's like a disease. Once it's inside you,
you can't ever get rid of it. The only thing you can do is manage it. And people
find that hard in South
Africa.
Before we
condemn we need to be clear on exactly what the facts are and exactly what
happened. It may well be that play-acting was involved. If this was the case,
those who shouted the loudest and howled in protest might be guilty of...well, jumping
a gun. Inciting unnecessarily. The media, are you listening? Even so, this is
still very damaging and comes at a difficult time, a stressful time for a lot
of South Africans. It feels like a throwback to the old black white bullshit."
I was
completely shocked, I didn't think this kind of thing was still going on in South Africa.
When I was there, there was an obvious segregation and it was a known "fact"
that white people were better than black people, but we had some kind of arrangement.
They lived in their area and we lived in ours.
Like the good old apartheid times
Forced to eat meat mixed with garlic and urine, cleaners at a South African university are going through their "initiation" process. Participating in beer-downing competitions, races and mock rugby games, if the black workers are sufficiently entertaining, they go away at the end of the day with a bottle of whisky.
This is what happened at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein in central South Africa last September, when five elderly black cleaners were filmed completing the humiliating tasks. On Tuesday (26. Feb) the video of the events surfaced on the internet, causing outrage across the country. Now, the four victimisers are facing criminal charges, and mass protests are taking the country by storm.
The video subtitled in English
"It would be unrealistic to expect anything less of these people"
Ndumiso Ngcobo is a maths and science teacher from Johannesburg:
I got a bit
emotional when I watched the video. It was shocking; retarded, stupid bigotry.
I wish I could say that it was an isolated incident but the tragic reality is
that it's not. Everyone knows it. But these things happen, and you have to stay
rational, so that you don't become stupid like them. What was shocking was that
these people [the students] are supposed to be the intellectual ones. But in
the end I'm not surprised. What can you expect in 14 years? You can't
obliterate prejudice in a second. It's like a disease. Once it's inside you,
you can't ever get rid of it. The only thing you can do is manage it. And people
find that hard in South
Africa.
It would be unrealistic to expect anything less of these people. What can you do? You can only hope it doesn't get passed on to the next generation. It's a case of one step forward and two steps back here. And in recent times we've taken a lot of steps back. People have closed their minds."
"Is having a sick sense of humour a jailable offence?"
Blogger Nick Vanderleek who attended the University of Free State last year:
Before we
condemn we need to be clear on exactly what the facts are and exactly what
happened. It may well be that play-acting was involved. If this was the case,
those who shouted the loudest and howled in protest might be guilty of...well, jumping
a gun. Inciting unnecessarily. The media, are you listening? Even so, this is
still very damaging and comes at a difficult time, a stressful time for a lot
of South Africans. It feels like a throwback to the old black white bullshit."
Is having a sick sense of humor a jailable offence?"
"This kind of thing has probably always been going on; it’s just that we didn’t know about it"
Danielle Theunnissen is a South African from Port Elizabeth who left the country in 1999 to live in the UK:
I was
completely shocked, I didn't think this kind of thing was still going on in South Africa.
When I was there, there was an obvious segregation and it was a known "fact"
that white people were better than black people, but we had some kind of arrangement.
They lived in their area and we lived in ours.
But the Afrikaans people, well, you've got to come here to see what they're like. They're still being brought up with an apartheid mindset. This kind of thing has probably always been going on; it's just that we didn't know about it. The internet has changed that."
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Comments
Racism
Submitted by Nick van der Leek (not verified) on Sat, 01/03/2008 - 14:03.Quite a judgemental comment. This is the problem - racism is about passing (prejudicial) judgement. In this case I actually know one of the perpetrators of the video. My field of reference isn't one single video. Also I have lived in SA and abroad. In a country where 70% of the nation are Africans, and many of these are poor (and have been uneducated)while many of the whites hold a large percentage of the country's wealth (this is rapidly changing), naturally one can expect schisms and problems.
I have found it interesting how this very unpleasant video has evoked a lot of judgemental venom from others. Is it an appropriate response to condemn South African whites as racists? Careful. Each accusing the other of racism, and it sounds like the writer here is accusing me of something similar. This is not how you get people to harmonise, by telling them how good-for-nothing they are based on an 'impression'.
Unregistered user
NOT RACISM... PURE SAVAGERY !!!!
Submitted by Leliondunord (not verified) on Sun, 02/03/2008 - 10:20.I am from Cameroon and I do not believe we treat our minority european or white whatever you want to call them that way, yet we are a majority. I think these events are a bit sad. Sad that these rascals find that amusing too. I would not mind spending a day there and sort those perpetrators out myself. They act like savages and they need to be treated that way... The savage way!!!! Just give me an address, would love to spend a few days holiday there... I might bring a few of my friends too, to get a laugh or invite them to Cameroon, to my house, and dare them to please repeat the act...I still have a bit of faith in the Human Race, and that race look nothing like these guys... Even animals have a bit more decency... They are lower than humans, mind you !!!!
Unregistered user
Racism not limited to Afrikaners alone
Submitted by Kenneth T. Tellis (not verified) on Tue, 20/05/2008 - 23:37.I am afraid that the Afrikaners have been judged too harshly. Racism was introduced to South Africa when Britain won the Boer War in 1901. If any form of racism was introduced into South Africa it was by the British colonial authorities. Mohandas Gandhi was thrown out of a WHITES only train compartment in Durban, South Africa by the British. The Boers or Afrikaners were not rulers of the Union of South Africa, the British were.
Every time I hear someone or other blame the Taal-Speaking Afrikaner for Racism, I just gag. Because they are wet behind the ears. Racism was British imperial policy throughout the world, and blaming the Afrikaners is a cop out. They are in fact blaming the wrong people.
Unregistered user
So Easy to Blame Someone Else
Submitted by Unregistered user on Tue, 19/08/2008 - 11:17.This type of comment infuriates me.
Why do nations, completely inept at running themselves continue to blame their previous colonial rulers for issues and problems which remain decades later. How far back are we going to allow blame to be apportioned. Do the Australians blame us for the treatment of aborigines, or the New Zealanders for the treatment of Mauri? No, because they appreciate that they are now masters of their own destiny and are responsible enough to stand on their own two feet. Furthermore, (and they would be at pains to admit this) they ARE the ancestors of those British colonials just as much as any British man or woman who has never set foot of the UK. They however deal with their own problems.
What happened in the past is history. South Africans in my experience, are predominantly racist. This is not the fault of the British - It is the fault of South African Society accepting for far too long, the wrongs of the past. The root causes may well be a hangover from colonialism, but the solutions certainly do not include blaming another nation for its current ills. Or perhaps South Africa wants fair Britannia to recolonise and sort out the mess it cannot seem to cope with. Now, let's talk about Zimbabwe...
Unregistered user
This is blatant nonsense.
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Sun, 10/08/2008 - 10:45.This is blatant nonsense. The Great Trek occurred because Britain treated everybody - slaves and masters - equally under the law. It also abolished slavery, which was too much for the slave-owning Afrikaners of the Cape. The Boers were very racist because they saw that as the only way to protect their tribe against other (black) tribes. During the Boer War they were also very racist, as were elements of the British contingent. Afterwards, the National Party had its raison d'etre the separation of the races and language groups. This is not to say that there was not racism in other parts of the British Empire. Trying to apportion the blame elsewhere is a cop-out: you just had to live in South Africa during apartheid times to know how things were. Afrikaners will only progress when they face their history fair-and-square, like Germany did after WW2. And while we're at it, have you ever looked into Nazism in South Africa in the 30s, and the very prominent part played by Afrikaners (and the National Party) in these movements? Not exclusively, of course, but overwhelmingly.
Unregistered user