In the past I have said, perhaps in passing, that there is only one person in South Africa who truly embodies this saying: Moporofeta gaana tlotlo mo gaabo-a prophet has no appreciation nor respect in his homeland. That individual is none other than former president of South Africa Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki’s razor-sharp intelligence, while underappreciated here at home, has over the years sent chills down the spines of those who once and still question the humanity of his people and has liberated the minds of those of his people from thinking and believing that they are second rate citizens and therefore do not deserve that which makes them human. Apart from being an erudite scholar-his remarkable thesis on the history of South Africa delivered to a sceptical audience in Canada in 1978 deserves nothing but acclaim-the former head of state should be credited with the talents of a foreteller, at least in this particular case. On 10 June 1997, the then deputy president of South Africa addressed parliament in Cape Town and made the following critical observation: ‘…assertions have been made about declining financial management standards in government, which is attributed to inefficient blacks, who, it is said, occupy their positions by virtue of misplaced affirmative action policies.’
These assertions, that Mbeki alludes to above, have become the gospel to indict the competence of blacks; more so as a group, and not as individuals. But it is the statement that follows the one above that has me convinced that the former president has been blessed with the powers to see the future. He had cautioned thus: ‘In reality, we are not far from the day when the diplomatic language will slip and the point will be made openly, that ‘the Bantus are not yet ready to govern.’ That day has unfortunately arrived; and Mbeki was correct. The polished words, or the diplomatic language as Mbeki so beautifully puts it, have evaporated and the competence of blacks, placed nakedly on stage, is being prosecuted.
One RW Johnson, described somewhere as a ‘fine political analyst’, a flattery remark that I found to be very much questionable as the man himself, is one of these people that Mbeki foretold of on 10 June 1997 that they would abandon ‘diplomatic language’ and aim for the jugular: the Bantus are not yet ready to govern. To hitch on Mbeki’s words, it appears to be worse than that. The consensus amongst those who have taken it upon themselves to impose the heavy burden of policing black competence is that Bantus will never be ready to govern, as they are incapable of undertaking such a complex and demanding cause, and therefore for South Africa to see another day white power needs to be restored.
In one of his articles, writing in Politics Web lambasting the ANC’s ability to govern, rightfully so, Johnson begins his piece sort of objectively and truthfully. But it is the second paragraph of that article that caught my attention. Here is Johnson in his own words: ‘Penny Sparrow, a South Coast estate agent, provided a convenient initial focus with her virtually Neanderthal depictions of blacks as monkeys: what the French would call le racisme primaire. Thereafter all manner of essentially harmless folk have been caught up in the storm and have suffered penalties of one sort or another for a few words or sentiments a mite out of place – or not even that.’ After reading this paragraph I thought to myself: ‘Here we go.’
RW Johnson was born in 1943 which would make him 73 years of age this year, and therefore old and experienced enough to have mastered the language of deception. In the article in question Johnson does three things that are very important to note: Denying the existence of race, downplaying racism by accusing blacks of being racist themselves and cleverly condemning black competence through the eyes of ‘blacks’. All these three aspects are weaved together to produce one result: vindicate white guilt.
‘But what is this hyper-sensitivity about?’ Johnson asks regarding the debate around racism, seemingly irritated. Already Johnson’s tone suggests that blacks relish the role of victims to masquerade their incompetence. ‘For many years it has been commonplace that black commentators insist that “we must debate race”. On the face of it, there is little to debate. We all know that biologically speaking, no such thing as race exists.’ In the basketball court, what Johnson has just argued, is known as a slam dunk or in the game of chess a checkmate. Johnson has won the game and we can all go home now. Just like that, in one article, he has solved the mystery around race. While one Charles Darwin might disapprove of Johnson’s rejection of there being an existence of race, RW Johnson is no fool. He understands very well that over the years Charles Darwin has been harshly criticised for his theories on race and by distancing himself from Darwin’s ridiculous studies, he retains his privileged and cherished position as a liberal.
By suddenly denying the existence of race, that there is a visible difference between blacks and whites, Johnson has placed in the court of blacks a ‘curve ball’. Why debate racism when ‘we all know that biologically speaking, no such thing as race exists’? In a nutshell RW Johnson is saying Africans are paranoid. I can just imagine him, while churning out this article saying, ‘Just stop it. Okay?’
So who is the culprit in this ‘hypersensitivity’ surrounding the race debate? RW Johnson reckons the ruling party, the ANC (African National Congress), are the driving force behind this ‘farce’ regarding racism. ‘The main new fact driving the current hypersensitivity is just that the ANC is visibly failing.’ On the assertion that the ANC government is failing I am willing to concede a point to Johnson. He is correct. The wobbly leadership of president Jacob Zuma has left most of us with dreams of becoming a head of state; not for the wish to bask in the limelight as royalty but for the sake of just giving South Africa hope of something better. Johnson is also correct in saying the ANC are exploiting the race debate for the sake of staying in power. But as for the ANC being the culprit Johnson is hopelessly wrong. In the past twenty-one years, almost twenty-two now, the race issue has always been swept under the carpet, just as Johnson and his ilk seek to do once again. As the student protests around the country have proved this has nothing to do with the ANC. Johnson, being a trickster and avoiding the real elephant in the room, is deflating the issue and leading us astray.
It is here, dressed as objective criticism for the government, that Johnson decides to rope in black voices to strengthen his argument. Chosen deliberately albeit cleverly, Johnson’s language implies that even blacks do not trust their fellow blacks in power. This here is a master stroke from the old timer. Carefully done he also cites taxi drivers, whom we all know are mostly black. ‘No one is in any serious doubt now about this. It even passes the taxi driver test: take a taxi from OR Tambo and the driver will soon tell you that the ANC will soon lose power, either nationally or at least Joburg. It’s literally on the streets.’
Johnson, through black eyes, further chastises the ANC government: ‘Since this was South Africa’s first African government its imminent failure was seen as an enormous symbolic defeat for the black race by certain black intellectuals – first and foremost in their own eyes.’ It is interesting that when Africans voice their pain about racism they encounter daily Johnson conveniently denies the existence of race, therefore undermining black pain, yet when it comes to criticising the ANC government, ‘South Africa’s first African government’ as he reminds us, race suddenly makes its way into the argument. Here Johnson exposes himself, whether consciously or subconsciously, as an expert on black competence, though through sleek argument using black voices his condescending language is hard to detect which makes him dangerous.
That racism is a creation of whites to oppress their fellow man based on their skin colour is a fact that Johnson is not willing to accept. He writes that those who hold on to that school of thought ‘will find sophistical arguments for the proposition that only whites can be racists, although ordinary common sense shows plainly enough that this is a disease that anyone can catch. Blacks and whites can both be racists in the same way that blacks and whites can both be fast food addicts, both be thieves, both be religious nuts and so on.’ I mentioned above that RW Johnson is no fool. He understands the power of words, their force and importance in the treasured art of persuasion and uses them ‘skilfully’ to present his arguments, however preposterous. Johnson in this entire article trades on sophistry, a term that might be familiar with Philosophy and Political Science majors, but in this paragraph he seems to show off on how he relishes employing it as a sword to threaten those who dare argue otherwise.
As he continues to write Johnson slowly changes tune and he begins to apportion blame, and as you might have suspected reading his second paragraph he blames black people for racism. Here he takes on the former president Thabo Mbeki whom, as I have written somewhere, most whites struggle to swallow his truths. Johnson is among those. Renouncing Mbeki he writes that, ‘When the ANC was in its pomp under Mandela, it was proudly non-racial and did not stoop to anti-white racism. The person who really reintroduced racism to South African public life was Thabo Mbeki…’ From there being no existence of race black people are suddenly racist. This is the policing that I refer to in this piece, in which I undertook to caution against the policing of black competence. That Johnson says black people are racist, blaming them for the racism tearing the country apart, is a subject I will deal with thoroughly in my next piece titled Blacks cannot be racist. Such outrageous assertions should not be allowed to fly as they further undermine the black pain endured under brutal white oppression.
In 1994 when the ANC took power led by the same Mandela that Johnson lavishes with praises above whites had reservations about a black government, confirming Mbeki’s statement that ‘Bantus are not yet ready to govern.’ When Mandela resigned in 1999, ‘to march in front of a different detachment of the same army of the sun’, the very same band of sceptics bathed him with accolades. That very same year the then president Thabo Mbeki announced the launching of the Directorate of Special Operations famously known as the Scorpions, an agency tasked with investigating and prosecuting crime and corruption. Not surprisingly the creation of the Scorpions was greeted with public outcry by the very same group that did not trust blacks with a national government back in 1994, citing an agenda to shield SAPS (South African Police Services) from independently discharging their duties. Ten years later the Scorpions would be disbanded under the leadership of former president Kgalema Motlanthe and that group that lashed at Mbeki for creating the Directorate of Special Operations cried a river of tears, sad to see, like every caring South African, the Scorpions retire. Some of them spent millions taking the government to court.
In 1999 Thabo Mbeki stepped into the shoes of the late Tata Nelson Mandela and his appointment was greeted with doubt, scepticism and disappointment. Today Thabo Mbeki is lauded as the greatest head of state South Africa has ever had. Late last year when president Jacob Zuma shocked us all by firing Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister that very same group that questioned his credentials when he was appointed to that position just over a year earlier sang his praises from Pretoria to London, Johannesburg to New York and Cape Town to Shanghai. From all this we can glean that black competence needs policing and approval, and whites are the only people who are qualified for such a daunting job. Kgotsong!
Article By Seitiso Ntlothebe
