- Hi Jeff -
-
- I read an interesting article (published May 16) in relation
to the topic: Ten Years After (Apartheid) in which famous South African
anti-Aparhteid White (of Jewish-Lithuanian extraction) former Parliamentarian
for the Progressive Party, Helen Suzman notes that President Thabo Mbeki
is anti-White and asserts that Parliamentary democracy was better under
the Aparhteid regime! I wonder what old Hendrik Verwoerd (the Holland born
architect of Apartheid) would think.
-
- Some relevent quotes.
-
- "Suzman has cast an unexpected shadow over the ANC
- declaring that parliamentary democracy was healthier under the apartheid
regime.
-
- "Don't think for a moment that Mbeki is not anti-white
- he is, most definitely. His speeches all have anti-white themes and he
continues to convince everyone that there are two types of South African
- the poor black and the rich white."
-
- "One reason is the abandonment of the first-past-the-post
system under South Africa's post-apartheid constitution, she said. 'I used
to be a fan of proportional representation, but I am not at all now - I
have seen it in action.'"
-
- "Debate is almost non-existent and no one is apparently
accountable to anybody apart from their political party bosses. It is bad
news for democracy in this country. Even though we didn't have a free press
under apartheid, the government of that day seemed to be very much more
accountable in parliament."
-
- This is just the latest example of someone who was formerly
very pro ANC waking up to the realites of their reign. Certainly one of
the most high profile people to date.
-
- This link would be a great addition to the topic Ten
Years After in the featured section.
-
- PS: I am not defending nor endorsinig the insanity that
was Apartheid. Just pointing out that what followed it is fast becomming
even worse and how South Africa's (and Africa in genreal) current leaders
are getting away with things that the Apartheid (and colonial) governments
would never have dreamed of. The handling of the escalating violence &
killing of (mainly Boer/white) farmers, the out of control crime rate and
the AIDS crisis to name a few.
-
- Ron
-
- Here is the full story ...
-
-
- Suzman: Mbeki Anti-White
5-19-4
-
- In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph Helen Suzman
has attacked the ANC government for being "anti-white" and for
abandoning the poor.
-
- Suzman has cast an unexpected shadow over the ANC - declaring
that parliamentary democracy was healthier under the apartheid regime.
-
- The veteran human rights campaigner says she was disappointed
by the ANC government which she had worked so tirelessly to get into power.
-
- "I had hoped for something much better," said
Suzman, 86. "The poor in this country have not benefited at all from
the ANC. This government spends 'like a drunken sailor'.
-
- "Instead of investing in projects to give people
jobs, they spend millions buying weapons and private jets, and sending
gifts to Haiti."
-
- Zimbabwe
-
- She also criticised President Thabo Mbeki's Zimbabwe
policy and his relationship with President Robert Mugabe.
-
- "Mugabe has destroyed that country while South Africa
has stood by and done nothing.
-
- "The way Mugabe was feted at the inauguration last
month was an embarrassing disgrace. But it served well to illustrate very
clearly Mbeki's point of view."
-
- "Mugabe has done that to the whites, and I think
that is exactly what Mbeki admires about him.
-
- "Don't think for a moment that Mbeki is not anti-white
- he is, most definitely. His speeches all have anti-white themes and he
continues to convince everyone that there are two types of South African
- the poor black and the rich white.
-
- "Meanwhile, he doesn't do what he should be doing,
which is improving the lives of the people who voted for him. Mbeki's attitudes
to Mugabe and to HIV/Aids are the reason we are not getting the levels
of foreign investment that we should."
-
- No debate
-
- Suzman was a lecturer in economic history before beginning
her political career in 1953 as an MP for the United Party.
-
- Six years later she founded the Progressive Party, and
for 13 years was its sole MP. She was a regular visitor to Nelson Mandela
and other ANC leaders during their long incarceration on Robben Island.
-
- Between 1961 and 1974 she bombarded the ruling NP government
with parliamentary questions about the detailed workings of apartheid:
forced removals, racial classification, convictions for pass offences,
immorality laws and Bantu education. All were recorded in South Africa's
Hansard - two rows of which now line her study walls.
-
- "That's my life in there," she said, her tiny
arm sweeping along the shelves. "Of course, it would never be possible
today to ask as many questions as I did."
-
- One reason is the abandonment of the first-past-the-post
system under South Africa's post-apartheid constitution, she said. "I
used to be a fan of proportional representation, but I am not at all now
I have seen it in action.
-
- "Debate is almost non-existent and no one is apparently
accountable to anybody apart from their political party bosses. It is bad
news for democracy in this country. Even though we didn't have a free press
under apartheid, the government of that day seemed to be very much more
accountable in parliament."
-
- Her energy and relentless criticism of the apartheid
regime was formidable, and earned her anti-Semitic and sexist attacks in
parliament, where for six years she was the only woman politician - referred
to as "the lady from Lithuania".
-
- She retired from politics in 1989 with 28 honorary doctorates
and two nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize.
-
- Her probing continues unabated through the work of The
Helen Suzman Foundation, which scrutinises elections, voter choice and
the conduct of political parties in South Africa, Zimbabwe and other African
countries.
-
- Discrimination against whites
-
- Like many other white South Africans, Suzman has seen
her two children move overseas.
-
- A system of positive discrimination and labour laws that
impose strict quota systems on employers have led thousands of skilled
whites to pursue their careers elsewhere.
-
- "The employment laws are completely unrealistic,"
she said. The previous education system, she said, left a generation of
black children without the skills for the jobs into which they are now
being pushed.
-
- "You cannot overcome that in only 10 years. It will
take at least another generation before young people are properly qualified.
It is increasingly hard for young white people to find jobs, and I can
understand why white parents are worried about the future," she said.
-
- Perhaps conscious that she might be misconstrued, she
added firmly: "For all my criticisms of the current system, it doesn't
mean that I would like to return to the old one.
-
- I don't think we will ever go the way of Zimbabwe, but
people are entitled to be concerned. I am hopeful about any future for
whites in this country - but not entirely optimistic."
-
- Edited by Wilmer Muller
-
- http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Politics/0,,2-7-12_1527813,00.
html
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