Race used for self-interest

• Published date: 11 August 2021
• Publication title: Post

But what further racialised the matter was a subsequent tweet by Shivambu about a 1990 report which investigated allegations that Indians and whites in the MDM (Mass Democratic Movement) were responsible for a lack of unity. There was no explicit finding in the report that the allegations were verifiable and indisputable facts. But as often happens with matters of race, he opportunistically used that report. A flurry of reactions occurred on social media and it quickly became a major topic of discussion across society.

We have seen race used for thoroughly opportunistic and in fact self-seeking reasons in this debacle. The question that logically arises is this: if indeed Momoniat was too domineering and therefore a problem that required attention, why could Shivambu not have drawn attention to it and requested an investigation into the matter without racialising it by specific reference to Indians?

Malema and the EFF did the same thing when they had problems with Pravin Gordhan when he was commissioner of Sars (South African Revenue Service) some years back. They alleged he was part of an “Indian cabal” which was targeting Malema and the EFF. But the crux of the issues Malema had with Sars concerned tax and money matters. Malema’s attempts at tax evasion and news that he owed Sars many millions of rands have been widely reported. Every time there are financial interests involved, the EFF and Malema particularly are very quick to resort to race, in one form or another.

Why? Because in a country with our demography and serious problems of a lack of education and the debilitating legacy of illiteracy, this tactic could “work” at the level of public propaganda. It is the same set of reasons why the African masses continue to vote the ANC back into power, despite an abundance of evidence of it having failed dismally and repeatedly to “build a better life for all”, its earlier electoral slogan. The same set of reasons ultimately lies behind the former president Kgalema Motlanthe’s repeated complaints about the lack of political education and understanding among the ordinary membership of the ANC. He spoke often about this in interviews for his biography. This is, for me, one of the most neglected questions about SA and ANC rule after 1994, probably because to air those undeniable facts would be one of the no-go areas of political correctness.

Neville Alexander once spoke to me at length about this major problem and also wrote about it. He used the words “herd...