This is an attempt to cleanse South Africa of its colonial past, which is being driven by the the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). The removal of these statues is the long-term goal and as Cecil John now knows, it can and will actually happen. The question is of course, to what end? What will the removal of these artifacts bring to the development of our country? Why are we spending time freaking out about history? It’s happened and cannot be changed or erased, but it can certainly be repeated.
I think these young people have the wrong idea here. To them the power is in the removal of the statues. To me the power here is making a success of yourself in front of those statues. Proving to the world that no matter where you come from; you can be a success. To laugh at the irony of being educated in a university started by a colonialist, that’s power. But unfortunately our youth are being enslaved by the pains of history. They are being controlled in the most devious of ways, in ways that even the apartheid government could not achieve. And that is to say they are being made to believe that they are not free. They are being held captive by the nameless and faceless colonial oppressors – made to believe that the work they seek cannot be found, because of a racially driven conspiracy to keep them poor.
Nothing could be further from the truth. This is why I say the most insidious and evil form of slavery is to enslave a person’s mind. We should be showing them that the responsibility of history now falls on them. It is up to them to create the South Africa that Mandela dreamed of. But this will never happen when we have leaders who care not for the people they lead. Idi Amin Dada, Charles Taylor, Banda and Hitler – these names strike fear in the heart of their people. They too started off as liberators, saviours of their people, and in turn became their darkest nightmare.
Are we seeing the rise of such a person in South Africa? Are we doomed to fall like the great Zimbabwe? I guess only time will tell what our History will become.
