LETTER: Stuffed hats and jackboots

Last week’s challenge from Action Society’s Ian Cameron to police minister Bheki Cele in Cape Town refers.

Few who watched Cameron’s deeply frustrated but elegant and impassioned speech to the minister could disagree with his views or his motives. But we must all surely view the response — from the minister and the police — as deeply inappropriate and irresponsible. Being told to “shut up” is bad enough, but to be threatened and frogmarched out of the building is beyond the pale.

This is the reality of how Cele’s goons deal with honest and passionate criticism. This is what the man known as “The Stuffed Hat” orders his jackboots to do when a frustrated citizen speaks truth to power. Straight out of Oswald Mosley’s blackshirt playbook.

And where is our president in all of this? Where is a single dissenting voice in the ANC? And where is the DA shadow minister who replaced the effective and impressive Dianne Kohler Barnard?

All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing. Ian Cameron cannot be left alone and unprotected.

For shame.

Mark Lowe
Durban

The FM welcomes concise letters from readers. They can be sent to fmmail@fm.co.za