South Africa:Whites 'too sensitive' about race

So, the ANC thinks that Whites are too sensitive about race and land ownership. This is the political party which built its reputation on highlighting the racial divide at every opportunity - at least the Apartheid government was honest about race segregation. Mandela, bless his cotton socks, did try to give the impression to the world that race didn't matter in the new rainbow nation, but that didn't last long before he too got on the Whites-are-evil-and-racist bandwagon. Now that he is non compos mentis, the ANC have dropped all pretence of  the non-racial happy rainbow family and hyped up the hate attacks on the remaining Whites in the country. Out of a population of 50 million, 40 million are Black and 5 million are White (which may be a lot less by now - the 2011 census should be interesting). The 5 million Whites have to fight for their daily survival and for their rights against a government out to destroy and humiliate them. Whites have been officially in the country since 1652 - nearly 360 years - yet they're continually told by the ANC that they don't belong; that they're criminals who stole the land - land which they either bartered for or claimed fair and square - and they should leave the country if they're not happy. I'm not sure where they think the Whites should go seeing as they're South African citizens and the USA and Europe don't recognise White's as refugees. During Apartheid, the Blacks called their liberation movement the 'Struggle' and now Whites can also use that word freely. It's a daily struggle to live there and I'm waiting for the day when the world's liberals unite and become outraged as they did during Apartheid.....but somehow I don't think that will ever happen.

Hat tip: Julian B

Johannesburg - White people in South Africa should calm down because they are too sensitive about race issues.

This, combined with their sensitivity about the land issue, could still lead the country into a crisis, said Gwede Mantashe, secretary general of the ANC.

His comments came after the ANC repeatedly used race during the party’s recent local government election campaign. ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema led the race rhetoric.

Race issues

The controversial youth leader made headlines again on Friday when he refused to enter into a public debate with DA national spokesperson Lindiwe Mazibuko, calling her the “tea girl” of the “madam”, referring to DA leader Helen Zille.

This came after his comments that all white South Africans were criminals because they had stolen the land from black South Africans.

"If we can agree on this firstly, then we can go on to deal with them,” he said during an election rally in Galeshewe near Kimberley.

He said the DA wanted to bring back apartheid and that it was a party “just for the white people”.

President Jacob Zuma was on the stage with Malema during the event and used race rhetoric more than once. On another occasion, he told coloured voters in Cape Town that “white companies” should get the blame for the struggles of subsistence fishermen.

The FW de Klerk Foundation said in a statement on Sunday that these sorts of comments undermined national reconciliation and that the country couldn’t afford this.

But Mantashe said he didn’t believe that the ANC had handled race irresponsibly during its campaign, adding that he also didn’t think minorities needed to be intimidated by race references.

He said this despite election results which showed that ANC support in minority communities was at its lowest level ever.

Current land ownership 'not sustainable'

"We connect in a structured way with the Afrikaner, but the time has come for us to push our white countrymen in a direction and tell them they have to stop being so sensitive about race,” Mantashe said on Friday during an interview and a media conference at the national results centre.

He referred to the discomfort in agricultural circles about Malema’s land comments and felt there was no other way to speak about the reality.

"Would it be better if we said: ‘Most black people have no land,” rather than “Most of the land is in white hands’?” he asked.

The struggle was precisely about the contradictions in society, which was characterised by race, gender and class inequalities, he said.

"It has to be rectified. We can’t wipe it under the table. I told Helen there were three women on the DA’s election poster but her cabinet consisted of men.”

Malema’s sharp race comments were not the issue, said Mantashe.

"The issue is that land ownership as it currently stands, is not sustainable. This sensitivity about race and land will still lead to a crisis in the country. During the whole drama around coloured people in the Western Cape, it was forgotten that 72% of management positions in the country are filled by white people.”

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