Dear Ntsiki

You wrote a very biased story two days ago. It has the potential to destroy the unity of South Africans and revive xenophobia on a whole new level.

I am referring to this: http://ntsikimazwai.wordpress.com/2014/09/24/dear-white-south-africans/

I am an Afrikaner. I am of Africa. Admittedly I claim as my descendants some Europeans, but also the Khoi, San, Malay slaves, Xhosa, other imported cultures and indigenous nations. The blood of the first nations of Africa pump in my veins too. My genealogy and modern post-apartheid academic research confirms this.

I do not understand your claim that I have “grown” white people. I have however grown tomatoes and sweet potatoes in the African soil, after preparing the soil with my own hands, and weeding the fields myself. I once needed an ash pit, so I took a pick and a spade, and worked hard to get what I wanted. I admit that when I could afford it I hired help on other larger project, and I paid them for their labour.

I am not the descendant of the facist pig called Hitler, and I do not honour the crown of Elizabeth that built her legacy on stealing lands and making people slaves. Please do not compare me to them.

Indeed, ours is not necessarily a history one would be proud of, but it is what it is. As witnessed in the Truth Commission the old apartheid government is not the only party with blood on their hands. Even the liberation movements have blood on their hands. Let’s think of Stompie to name one. Go read the TRC archives if you want more.

Indeed there are “certain behaviours which provoked the hell out of oppressed South Africans” in the past. This is understandable. Fortunately Tata guided us all into a peaceful transition about two decades ago. It breaks my heart that even today the ruling government still centres around SELF importance. Have we as the South African nation learned nothing from our past?

What is it about humanity that makes us think that our own thoughts, ideas and existence are more important than other races?

I share your confusion. We built empires together in the past, and admittedly in recent years with indentured labour. Why can we not build together again, but this time to the benefit of all?

Those of us that knew what was going on stood up when the injustices of Apartheid were happening, in unity with the oppressed. I recollect three Afrikaner struggle heroes: Oom Bey (who became an activist around the era of Sharpville, left the Afrikaner Church and was banned from the country by the apartheid regime), Bram Fisher (who was imprisoned by the apartheid government, and died shortly after his eventual release – probably preventable if he had proper medical treatment during his incarceration), Max du Preez (the renegade Afrikaner reporter that started the Vrye Weekblad amidst strong opposition from government – who tried and often prevented him from telling the Afrikaners what the apartheid government was doing behind their backs) and John Harris (who was executed for crimes against the apartheid government).

Let’s also remember Ruth First – killed by a parcel bomb in Mozambique while in exile. And Ruth did not even have African connections, she was pearly white. Reminds me of another pearly white Swede presently incurring the wrath of the new fully democratic government for doing things similar to Ruth First. Both have a proud communist heritage.

The white liberals would have been up in arms, but in all honesty, apartheid government was very effective in hiding the atrocities of their regime. Even today Cuito Cuanavale is still shrouded in mystery and controversy.

You are correct, white liberals did not have to carry Dompasses, they could go wherever they pleased and the very same white liberals benefitted from white privilege except when murdered, imprisoned or exiled by the apartheid government. Yet somehow I doubt if that was the greatest atrocity of apartheid. Did white Afrikaners partake in the struggle? More often than current political correctness would like to presently acknowledge.

Like you, the Afrikaner have been on the southern tip of this continent for about 500 years – about the same time as most Nguni tribes. We started out as Europeans, but we interbred and became indigenous. Yes, few of us have learnt a Nguni or other “black” language. Please don’t allow this to fret you too much – most of us cannot speak French or German either. Like our black brothers we were also forced to speak the language of the British colonialist oppressor, who have committed more human rights abuses in this land than any other nation. But somehow after the Anglo-Boer war in which Britian tried to oppress black and white alike we made peace with them and went on with our lives. We do not hate them anymore.

What you call ‘stupid’ English could be considered a dialect, a linguistic phenomenon. Think about it: If I am to converse using the purest of Queen’s English, addressing an illiterate tribesman of Nguni origin in a vernacular beyond his comprehension he may just take offence and will surely be befuddled. As a matter of fact many white Afrikaners will not understand much of it either and they certainly don’t talk that way.

You say “I don’t know if its ignorance, arrogance or a desire to be asked to go back to your lands which makes you disrespect our Heritage Day.”

I have a suggestion for you. Pack all the pearly whites in a boat, ship them back to Europe. The Malay slaves that kept their blood lines clean – send them back to Malaysia. The Indians become trickier – you will have to deport them by caste to prevent mutiny on board. Anyone that is not of pure blood – line them up at Kerkplein and execute them for their crime – please remind me to join that queue. When you are done, all genetically pure ‘blacks’ can take the great trek North to go and claim their original lands back from the Arabs that started their great migration South by oppressing and enslaving them (go read your politically correct black consciousness history books before you get upset). None of us have any entitlement to Southern Africa as original inhabitants.

Then when we are all gone (including you), we can give Southern Africa back to its original owners: Those that had little to none of a perception of personal property, who did not understand how man can ‘own’ land. Those people have been oppressed, gang raped, their men were sodomised because they were not seen as human, murdered en masse by the Xhosa, the Zulu, the Swazi, the Afrikaner, the white settler. They are only Southern African genetic group that proved in their own original handwriting that they were here first.

I am speaking of the Bushman: The San, The Khoi, The Batwa, and many others who are gone now and whose names we do not know because we were all too ignorant to bother.

If you feel my suggestions somewhat impractical, I have an alternative for our mutual dilemma: Why don’t we acknowledge that which we have in common. How about we consider the number of chromosomes we have in common. How about we stop focusing on our differences and start building South Africa into the special gem it once was and can still be?

Let’s all just start being firstly human, secondly South African and finally acknowledging whatever cultural or genetic heritage we choose to pay homage to.

Anyone that want to republish this in commercial media or for profit? Please speak to me first.