Freedom Day – why is it so difficult to celebrate?

It’s not easy to say ‘Happy Freedom Day’ – one might be suspected of irony, mockery or subversion. What are we celebrating? The official government website tells us that ‘we celebrate 16 years of deepening democracy and freedom and the achievements we have made as a nation’ (www.info.gov.za/events/freedom-day.htm).

The memory of that day in April 1994 may not have faded, but why do these words ring so hollow? Because we also know that those 16 years have brought an deepening of poverty, a widening of the gap between rich and poor, an exponential increase in the rate of crime – and both an extension and a deterioration of educational and public health care systems. After 16 years, is the glass half full or half empty? And who are the principal beneficiaries? The established white elite and the rising new black elite?

It is easy to be cynical, much more difficult to find some kind of balance between optimism and pessimism.

Political freedom? Yes, we enjoy obviously much more political freedom than we ever had before. But if one is hungry, unemployed, landless and lacking in market-related skills, what then does political freedom mean? One cannot eat ballot papers.

If one has a house and a job and some money in the bank it may not be too difficult to find something to celebrate. But if one is one of 400 000 on the Cape Town housing waiting list, or one of the (roughly) 30% of our fellow countrymen who are unemployed, what then? Does one live on promises?

This not just a political problem: it is also a challenge for anyone who would like to believe in our collective future, and who wants to live with a modicum of hope. Is anyone prepared to grasp this nettle?

Vigil in Observatory 13 April 2010

One murder is one murder too many.

Each senseless, violent death causes devastation to friends, family, loved ones.

We remember in particular the recent murders in Observatory of Dominic Giddy, and Benny Pakiso Moqobane (both UCT students).
Also the murder of Masoa Pheello (a CPUT student), murdered in the street in Woodstock (apparently for his cellphone).
Also the murders of Prof Mike Larkin – murdered in the street in Rondebosch -
And Prof Kevin Rochford – murdered in his driveway in Little Mowbray.

• Also the murders of the 11 people in the Woodstock precinct who died in the 2008 -2009 year (according to official police statistics)

• Also the 121 people murdered in Khayelitsha in the same year

• Also the 135 people murdered in Gugulethu in the same year.

• Also the 2 346 people murdered in the Western Cape in the same year

• And the 18 148 people murdered in South Africa in the same year

• And the 50 people who were murdered today in South Africa

• And the 50 people who will be murdered tomorrow in South Africa.

• To understand this, take the impact of 1 murder and multiply it by 50, or by 18 148.

The point is not to make us feel helpless or despairing; the point is to remind us never to accept this state of affairs as normal.

The point is to do whatever we can to change a situation where 50 murders a day is seen as a statistic that we can live with.

By standing together here we are demonstrating that we cannot and will not accept this as normal.

I am reminded of the well-known words of John Donne, English poet and one-time Dean of St Pauls: ‘Send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee’
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Lets do what we can to ensure that this bell stops tolling, 50 times a day.

Malema, Terreblanche and Logic

A little logic can sometimes go a long way. On about 8 March Malema is reported as singing a song in front of an audience of University of Johannesburg students which includes the words ‘Dubul’ ibhunu’ (or ‘Kill the boer’). On 3 April AWB leader Eugene Terreblanche is murdered on his farm. According to police, this crime is committed by two farm workers and is the result of a disagreement over wages. The Independent Newspaper group conducts an online poll, and of the 772 respondents, 73% think that there is a direct causal link between these two events. This seems to be a classic case of a well-known logical fallacy known as ‘post hoc, ergo propter hoc’ (‘After this, therefore because of this.’) Simply put, it is to assume that sequence in time indicates causality. ‘Roosters crow just before the sun rises. Therefore they cause the sun to rise.’ This kind of argument is often linked to superstition or an inability to accept that some events are coincidental. In this case, fear, antipathy or prejudice seem to have led most of the IOL respondents to assume a causal link where none has been shown to exist. Farm murders are terrible crimes, but they take place without any prior singing of this particular song – by Malema or anyone else.
This does not of course exculpate Malema. Whether or not his words constitute hate speech, they certainly contribute to increased levels of fear and intolerance, and promote racial polarisation. The question is, can or will the ANC reign him in? At what point does he become a liability?

The ANC and hate speech

For my take on Julius Malema, see my recent blog ('Malema: Clown Prince or Crown Prince'). But a quick comment on 'hate speech' and 'dubula ibhunu' in particular. Anyone who knows anything about language will know that meaning depends to a large extent on context (the speaker, the occasion, the date, the audience). So one cannot 'fix' the meaning of this particular phrase or song. One would also need some understanding of the tradition of struggle out of which this song comes. Recourse to the Dictionary of South African English reveals that the term is not a literal reference to farmers (it can refer to whites generally, to Afrikaners, or specifically to the South African Police of the apartheid era) - but it is clearly derogatory. But does it/can it constitute hate speech?