LETTER: Diabetes has not made anyone racist

I am not a lawyer and know nothing about jurisprudence and related matters. I am therefore not qualified to defend the law against ANC populist politicians such as Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi.

However, I do know that in 1994 we agreed to set new rules and protect them, even when they went against us. But now ANC politicians who are desperate to win the 2024 elections are milking the Hani family’s pain for their own benefit. 

I don’t expect the justice minister to be on the side of the Constitutional Court judges. After all, he is a politician not a lawyer. Poor chief justice Raymond Zondo is on his own.

That said, I can’t keep quiet when people like Belinda Magor blame diabetes for their racism. November is diabetes awareness month, something I take seriously as it made a humble contribution to my career. Some 2.5-million South Africans are living with diabetes. These are good people dealing with a complicated illness. Diabetes has not made anyone racist. Racism is a choice. 

If my kindness as a human being is less important to her than my skin colour, if she thinks I am worse than her dog because of my blackness, I am not angry at her. I pity her. If she could see beyond her jaundiced views she might discover that I laugh at the same jokes as her and also hate corruption with all my heart. I worry about my family’s safety in the face of rampant violent crime, just as she does. Lest she forgets, first I am a human being, then I am black.

Dr Lucas Ntyintyane

Via email

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