LETTER: Phophi Ramathuba’s outburst will do her no harm

Limpopo health MEC Phophi Ramathuba is in hot water, at least as far as progressive forces are concerned ("Right message, wrong recipient”, August 29).

Her attack on a female patient waiting for surgery is, of course, beyond the pale for a health professional, but politically it will not do her any harm. The mood in the country has turned xenophobic — especially against Zimbabweans. Her outburst might therefore have been carefully calculated to shore up her popularity in Limpopo, and her party’s vote in the province.

The ease with which foreign nationals are treated in state health institutions should indeed be a topic of debate, but we do need to go to the root causes for the many Zimbabweans in SA: from Thabo Mbeki onwards the ANC government has found nothing wrong with the way Zanu-PF has run the show in our neighbour. While Zimbabwe was imploding and her people fleeing by the millions, our leaders could not find a word of censure or criticism. Any critique of the way the Zimbabwean regime ruled was called racist — black leaders do not make mistakes.

Dr Ramathuba should have aimed her rant at her own party for failing the Zimbabwean people, but she kept very shtum, no doubt thinking of her fat cheque at month-end.

Fred Muller

Brackendowns

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