Comments on: Race, Zuma, journalists and strawberry pie

By: Gaddafi Mokoteli

Gaddafi Mokoteli — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 07:36:57 +0000

Why should there be lot of noise when black people organize themselves because white people of different ethnic groups have their own organizations and no one has raised a concern about that. In this democratic country we have Greek; Jewish; Muslim;Chinese & Afrikaners organizatins that promotes interests of their specific groupings so why not the indigenous people of South Africa.

Abbey Mekoe and his colleagues should be encouraged and supported in representing the views and interests of black people after all we are not totally liberated.Incidents such as UFS racial saga shows all of us that we have a long way to go and black people must go back to the basics by organizing themselves.

By: Marirong

Marirong — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:40:30 +0000

What is this noise all about?

By: Graeme

Graeme — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:09:17 +0000

I agree… equality in award be in it sport (prize money !), academic achievement or whatever should not be differentiated between men or woman, but you cant convince me that something as generic as journalism should be segregated by race or “***”, particularly in South Africa at this point in our history. It will be interesting to see what the Human Rights Commisssion will decide.

By: Sarah Britten

Sarah Britten — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:44:29 +0000

Childbirth is a somewhat different matter from business, for example. Groups for women and groups for blacks amount to much the same thing; why should one be acceptable and the other not? I cringe when I see awards for women – so patronising.

By: Graeme

Graeme — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:40:48 +0000

I am not sure that I can agree with the women / man argument. For me, differentiation on *** is perfectly legitimate, in that there are obviously issues that effect the different sexes in different ways. A woman’s only group to discuss the issues of childbirth is understandable but the conscious exclusion of black women from that discussion would be unacceptable.

Forcable ejection only compounded the issue.

By: Sarah Britten

Sarah Britten — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:48:22 +0000

My objection to the JZ event was not the racially exclusive policy of the FBJ per se – you could extend the same answer to women-only groups – but the fact that whites were prevented from attending at all, and not only that, were forcibly ejected.

No different from a black journalist being prevented from observing an AWB meeting, really.

By: ak

ak — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:01:41 +0000

Sometime last year a South African team went to represent us in the rugby games. Some people complained that this team was made up people from a certain color group. It was explained to the complainants that, the issue was not color but physical prowess.

I am not sure if the same argument could not be applied here; that Black is just a color;the important thing is their ability to speak and write indigenous languages.

To actually show how democratic the process was, those Black journalists who did not go, are not being victimized for failure to attend.

I have just seen a blog picture where a priest was officiating in a matrimonial ceremony. I think all the people there were of a certain racial group. Should we now complain that there were no black faces?

But what I think is more important is whether this group did actually plot some subversive things against the rest of the none Black journalists.

But your sensitivities actually point to a fact that we are still a color based society. In more open societies this would really be a none issue.

By: graeme

graeme — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 05:20:13 +0000

“Special interest groups” based on race and language ? Sure, I can think of a couple of those, the Broederbond, the Apartheid Government, the Klu Klux Klan ! At this time of our democracy, given the past, the last thing we need are exclusive groups based on race, however “harmless” they appear to be. In particular, I would wish for a President who understands that.

By: ak

ak — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 02:27:33 +0000

I have recently been introduced to a term called ” Special interest groups”

These are people who have their own concerns which affect them as members of a particular group.If there is an issue which affects me and my fellow colleagues meet the president, why, I should go there.

Special interest groups do not want people who do not belong to that group to come. I have no problem at all. You should not worry journalists like breaking the news. They will compete to tell us what was discussed

By: graeme

graeme — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 08:10:53 +0000

I guess I don’t have a concern as to him offering support to any grouping be they black or Greek or white. The question remains for me, why does he have to do it behind closed doors in “secrecy” ? Is there something to be said by the leader of the ANC leader that the rest of the nation cannot hear ?

Surely, that is the concern with the current government, the in-fighting and political intrigue that has required Mr Zuma himself to fight court battles in foreign countries.

There must be a better way of expressing support and sharing ideas.