afrol News, 9 April - May be it is time to say enough is enough! This may be the stance that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa, under the leadership of President Jacob Zuma, is taking as racial tensions again escalate in the country.
After almost a week of racial tensions, following the murder of leader of the white right wing party, Eugene Terreblanche, preceded by political flops at different levels, the party is now doing everything to avert a possible civil explosion to a full-scale war, or maybe too late.
The ANC has today issued a strong statement condemning its youth leader, Julius Malema, after yesterday's racial attack and dismissal of the BBC journalist, Johan Fisher, during a press briefing at the party's headquarters in Johannesburg.
Mr Fisher was insulted and called names such as ‘rubbish, bastard, agent' before he was shown the door, for simply asking why Mr Malema was contemptuous of Zimbabwe's opposition MDC party being housed at the rich Sandton part of Gauteng, while he himself lived in the same suburb?
The attack on the journalist has been widely criticised, with Mr Malema being called a future dictator in the making. It was also seen as something that was probably being partly enjoyed by the ruling party executive, which only responded the next day.
While the ANC statement distances the party from Mr Malema's utterings, and even insinuations that the party was supporting the party of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, the different political sectors in South Africa have been left baffled, in that Mr Malema's high-profiled Easter weekend visit to Zimbabwe, could not have been done without the sanctioning of the ANC executive – unless he has totally gone out of control.
Unless, the ANC is only realising too late that, South Africa's mediatory role in Zimbabwe means more than just flights, wining and dining in Harare.
Just as with the hate speech turnabouts, be it in singing, chanting or spam mail, South Africa may realise too late the damage and danger posed by these rhetoric. It is just in the not forgotten months when xenophobic attacks on political and economic refugees left thousands homeless and causing the country to fork more than it could ever budget, to restore law and order and relocate the refugees into the communities – something that has not yet been fully achieved.
For some political critics in the country, the racial war is far from over, with just the switching of positions. While the past it was the whites against the blacks, this time around it is the blacks against the whites, but, with the majority of those who have embraced the true rainbow nation, non-racial South Africa, being left wondering in the wilderness. In fact, for many whites, what they are experiencing is the reverse apartheid, which they say it's worse than the yesteryears' one.
The reality of an open filthy racial war has now dawned in South Africa, and unless it is urgently swept off to the darkest of dungeons, it will grow and like wildfire sweep the country to its humiliating demise.
More legal cases of hate speech or racial-based human rights issues are growing and while the laws of the country may not ably deal with all, there will be more setbacks and bitterness. For instance, would it be okay for one group to want to be left alone and sing the so-called historical freedom songs, while the other is barred, not barred, fiercely prohibited, from singing its apartheid anthem or other songs?
As the funeral of Eugene Terreblanche is underway and his body will be buried on the open earth, the hope for Africa's most prosperous economy, would be for the history to also be buried, once and for all. But, it may be too late to put out the fires!
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afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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