"Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" ... boo hoo

I arrived in Kathmandu to news that the infamous apartheid Prime Minister P.W. Botha had died. He lived to 90 years. All of which he spent as an unrepentant racist. I remember being in Baltimore in August 1985 when he called the world to listen to a speech on South Africa's future. The Reagan administration was sure that their "constructive engagement" diplomacy had persuaded P.W. to reform apartheid. Britain's Margaret Thatcher was similarly deluded.

But instead of offering a course for change, P.W. remained defiant. MSNBC quotes the following from his speech: “Reasonable South Africans will not accept the principle of one-man one-vote in a unitary system ... That would lead to domination of one of the others and would lead to chaos. Consequently I reject it as a solution.” White domination was OK in this scenario but he did make cosmetic concessions to coloureds and Indians (and some sell-outs bought into the tricameral parliament hoax he offered them ... sadly many of those same sell-outs are now part of the ANC-led government but that is another story for later).

P.W. remained defiant and though he cautioned whites to "adapt or die" he ignored the rights of Black South Africans completely. He ended his speech by saying that he believed South Africa "had crossed the Rubicon." For him that obviously meant a continuance of apartheid with no concession to the liberation forces. Chester Crocker, Reagan's frontman in Africa, was left with egg on his face. But being the great 'visionary' Reagan kept pushing his "constructive engagement" policy until Congress rebuked him and passed a comprehensive sanctions package.


News of P.W's death hardly caused anyone to pause in Kathmandu. In fact, I read the report on the ticker tape that runs beneath CNN broadcasts. I also read that President Nelson Mandela was conciliatory about his passing and his legacy. I have not read what Mandela said but I am sure that most Black South Africans are happy that he is gone.

For me, P.W. is the face and legacy of apartheid. I count him and his supporters among my most despised. He caused immeasurable pain and suffering that cannot just be brushed aside. History has already judged him as a racist dictator and lunatic. It is however also my sincere hope that there is a line for retribution in the after-life. Sorry Archbishop Tutu but some of us are a tad less forgiving ;)

My feeling is that most Blacks share my sentiment. I like what this brother said in a news report on www.news24.com: I am "very very happy" when Botha died at his Wilderness home last week, at the age of 90. "There are people that are heartbroken because of him," he said. "So we are here to witness that he is really dead. That is why most of the black people are here." A sister, according to the same news report said she was only there to see Mbeki. "I don't care for Botha. He doesn't deserve any flowers. He deserves stones," she said. "He must know Chris Hani is waiting there with a big fork, and Steve Biko is waiting there with a big hammer. "He was a Satan... I don't have a family today because of him."

We should set aside reconciliatory rhetoric when dealing with P.W. After all, he rejected the TRC and thumbed his nose at the new-South Africa. If millions of Black South Africans had their way, he would have been jailed for crimes against humanity. I do so hope that it still happens out there.

I gots to run ... my plane from Kathmandu leaves in just an hour. Wonder how many frogs partied in my place over the past 9 days!

Peace and struggle.

ps. I promise to catch up on emails soon :)