DURING the celebration of the 21st anniversary of our democracy last week, President Jacob Zuma acknowledged that the violence in our society points to the need for psychological help.Zuma said: "Apartheid was a violent system and it produced violent countermeasures to it. So people still believe that to fight authority you must fight government … even now, when it is your own government. We need to be helped as a society."Zuma must be congratulated for this acknowledgment. And while there may be criticism, as is usually the case when he mentions apartheid, it is vital not to let apartheid off the hook. Those who actively supported the system and those who benefited from it should take responsibility for the trauma we continue to experience in our society.Apartheid was not merely benign segregation; it was horrible disfiguring violence that reduced some to subhumans. People were bombed, hanged, shot, jailed and injured. Violence was an everyday occurrence.That violence has been tran...
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