LETTER: Culture of reconciliation is dying
Ramaphosa and Malema overlook the fact that the actions De Klerk took in 1990 were not easy
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s speech at the Grand Parade in Cape Town in which he stated that FW de Klerk, in releasing Mandela, had acted out of pure political pressure from the oppressed people of SA, helped set the tone for events before the state of the nation address. Though Julius Malema based his argument on De Klerk’s statement that apartheid was not a crime against humanity, what both leaders have demonstrated is that the culture of reconciliation is dying in this country.
Reconciliation is based on the ability of opposing sides to see some worth in the other’s actions while each also acknowledges that certain of its actions were wrong. Based on a mutual understanding that a commonality of purpose is the best way to build a future, reconciliation is the oil to ease the way forward. It goes against the idea of opening old wounds and settling scores, which leaves both sides ultimately worse off...
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