10 April 2015 1 Min Read

Overcoming amnesia of white supremist mindset

in News / Opinion by Jongisilo Pokwana

- In this photo taken on Tuesday, March 31, 2015, a statue of former South African statesman and Afrikaner leader Louis Botha outside the entrance to the South African parliament building with Table mountain forming the backdrop, left rear, in Cape Town, South Africa. On March 9, 2015, a South African student protester tossed faeces onto the statue of British colonialist Cecil John Rhodes at the University of Cape Town, igniting nationwide calls to remove other statues of former white leaders, and the uproar continues as part of a larger discourse about change in South Africa, and the legacy of apartheid. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

- CECIL JOHN RHODES STATUE

- PAUL KRUGAR STATUE

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IF a statue in a prominent public place of national significance is erected based on the wishes of society not only to celebrate its leaders but to embody its own self imagination, as a representation of a state or society and its hopes and aspirations, then surely something must be done about the imposing colonial figures that stand tall today in major public spaces in South Africa.

This is amnesia of immense proportions. Colonial writers have already left our country awash with books full of lies and fabrications.

The fact is, our colonial and apartheid past cannot be wished away. It is a past and a present. The preamble of our constitution speaks very clearly on it: “We, the people of South Africa, recognise the injustices of our past; honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land; respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.”

This statement is not to be taken for granted, it is an ideal we must all work hard to embody if we are to live in a fair, just, classless and cohesive society, free of all forms of prejudice against any social groups or class of people. Any intolerance to majoritarian black rule is counter-progressive.

It is critical that our government move with speed to attend to an issue that could easily spiral out of control such as happened with the vandalisation of statues in Cape Town, Tshwane, EThekwini, eTinarha and Port Elizabeth.

The public must make use of the correct channels to have the statues relocated. The South African Heritage Resource Agency is the appropriate government agency to approach.

Jongisilo Pokwana ka Menziwa writes in his personal capacity. He is from the Pokwana Traditional Council, is CEO of Vusizwe Foundation for Oral Historical Research and regional chair of Contrasela, and a council member of the Eastern Cape Archives and Records Service