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CHRIS THURMAN: Johnny Clegg deserves more than political grandstanding
Questions of cultural appropriation aside, the ‘White Zulu’ showed us the best way to be white
Is it right to use the death of a public figure for political grandstanding? Jonathan Paul Clegg is dead and his family is in mourning. Friends and fellow musicians are grieving. A country is united in sorrow and affirmation: Johnny Clegg was one of our greats.
Sadly, very few of us are immune to “hot take” syndrome. I’ve given in to it myself on more than one occasion. So I can sympathise with the narcissistic impulse that drove Helen Zille, on hearing the news of Clegg’s passing, not to write a message of condolence but instead to hunt through her own Twitter archive and retweet something she posted two years ago. ..
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