Statement appears to equate economic dominance of Indians with prejudice against Africans
01 February 2024 - 15:34
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Burning factory in Sea Cow Lake area on July 12, 2021 in Durban, South Africa. Picture: Gallo Images/Darren Stewart
Joint reports of the SA Human Rights Commission and the Commission for the Promotion & Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious & Linguistic Communities (CRL) have found no evidence that the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma was linked to the widespread unrest and looting in July 2021.
Fair enough, though it is at least plausible that Zuma’s incarceration was the spark in the dry grass of poverty and frustration. This frustration was to a large extent born of the corrupt governance during Zuma’s tenure.
Be that as it may, it was disconcerting to read the statement by CRL commission chair David Luka Mosoma, which appeared to equate the economic dominance of Indians in the Phoenix region at the time of the riots with Asian racial prejudice against Africans.
While presumably unintended, this implication has most unfortunate echoes from those of the late Idi Amin. The Ugandan dictator drove Asians out of his country in 1972 as he saw them as unacceptably dominant. Let us guard against any temptation to pluck this poisonous political fruit.
Willem Cronje Cape Town
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Dangerous implication about 2021 unrest
Statement appears to equate economic dominance of Indians with prejudice against Africans
Joint reports of the SA Human Rights Commission and the Commission for the Promotion & Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious & Linguistic Communities (CRL) have found no evidence that the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma was linked to the widespread unrest and looting in July 2021.
Fair enough, though it is at least plausible that Zuma’s incarceration was the spark in the dry grass of poverty and frustration. This frustration was to a large extent born of the corrupt governance during Zuma’s tenure.
Be that as it may, it was disconcerting to read the statement by CRL commission chair David Luka Mosoma, which appeared to equate the economic dominance of Indians in the Phoenix region at the time of the riots with Asian racial prejudice against Africans.
While presumably unintended, this implication has most unfortunate echoes from those of the late Idi Amin. The Ugandan dictator drove Asians out of his country in 1972 as he saw them as unacceptably dominant. Let us guard against any temptation to pluck this poisonous political fruit.
Willem Cronje
Cape Town
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Jailing of Jacob Zuma not to blame for violence, says SA Human Rights Commission
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