M
ANY of us, young people who were involved in the #RhodesMustFall
protests at our universities,
realised long ago that
Nelson Mandela’s “rainbow nation” doesn’t exist.
Many of us, who took part in those protests in our historically white
institutions, are products of
multiracial and private schools.
And it was there where we learned that the idea of a non-racial South
Africa lives only in the mind of the late former president and those who, out of desperation to wipe the slate of our past clean, were unwilling to
confront the reality of deep-seated
racial violence that characterises Mzansi’s society.
The #BlackMonday protests that took place across the country this week exposed the truth about our country: the rainbow nation never existed.
Those protests were held in support of white farmers. The idea was to highlight the number of attacks
involving the farmers – a number that, despite many figures being
punted around, is in fact unknown.
Bear in mind that the killings
happening on farms do not necessarily constitute farm murders because such are specifically categorised as those that target farm owners.
Since the killings of families or spouses on farms are included in the overall statistics, it’s difficult to know the exact figure of “farm murders”.
But the #Black Monday protesters seem to promote the idea that a systematic white genocide is going on.
This narrative was expressed through images that were captured during the marches.
Placards with the most hateful
statements were held up, as was the deeply offensive apartheid flag.
Protesters were recorded singing “die stem”, the anthem of the
apartheid regime.
It was a horrible sight for many South Africans, particularly black South Africans who suffered under that diabolical regime.
In response, many took to social
media to express their views about #BlackMonday and those who
participated in it. Most were angry.
Some people questioned why no
protests are organised to highlight the killing of thousands of black people in townships every year.
Or why there are not more marches to commemorate the Marikana massacre. The hypocrisy of the white community was questioned. Some responses were sinister, with updates such as “one settler, one bullet!”, and “those racist white farmers deserve to be killed”.
This social media phenomenon exposes South Africa for the deeply fractured society it truly is at the present moment.
We are a society that harbours deep-seated resentment for itself – a nation of people who have yet to heal from the painful wounds of our colonial and apartheid past.
I believe the main reason for this depressing state of affairs can be ascribed to our so-called reconciliation having been shallow and superficial.
It wasn’t done for the purpose of facilitating genuine healing and justice, but rather to force millions of people to move on, to get over the bitter suffering they had endured for several centuries.
A bandage was placed over gaping wounds. And now, 23 years into our democracy, the wounds have started to bleed severely, and the bandage is soaked in the blood.
I believe that a blown-up racial war will happen in South Africa – unless we all come to the table to have honest discussions about racism in our country.
Unless we come up with effective and meaningful solutions to begin the task of redressing past injustices, and in the very near future at that.
In fact, the war started years ago, and it is heating up.
The open racial polarisation and racist incidents are ample evidence of that.
But this kind of war can only come to an end if both sides commit in good faith to ending it.
If not, we’ll wake up to a country similar to the one we tried to destroy in 1994 – or worse.
