The moral bankruptcy of the South African political class
Lance on Aug 26 2007 at 6:12 am | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Lance's Page, Race
Jamie Kerchick asks if it is time to consider knocking off Mugabe. Probably won’t happen even if it is the right thing to do, but this is part of the reason I despise Thabo Mbeki:
As an umpteenth example of the United Nation’s utter fecklessness, the world body has decided that the millions of Zimbabweans who have fled to neighboring South Africa over the past several years are not entitled to refugee status, and thus won’t receive any of the U.N.’s enormous largesse. Apparently because only a limited number have applied for political asylum (a limited number due to the fear of being caught and deported to a land where they will starve and/or be tortured) these poor people will continue to languish in penury, ignored by the international community. Meanwhile, the grandchildren of Palestinians who fled during Israel’s 1948 War of Independence have a unique status–conferred upon them by the U.N.–among the world’s refugees.
Remind me, again, why the U.N. matters?
Who is leading the charge to provide cover in the UN for Mugabe on this? Thabo Mbeki. The leadership of South Africa has lost any moral authority their long struggle gained them in their constant defense of dictators and mass murderers. Where is Nelson Mandela? Where is the ANC? Or is fighting injustice only a matter of the color of the perpetrators skin?
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Color me surprised.
Mugabe is the region’s poster-boy for anti colonial sentiment, and enjoys a long history and strong ties with many of africa’s current leaders, including Mbeki. The trouble is that the ANC is deeply divided with party infighting and power struggles now replacing Mandela-style reconciled leadership.
Many of these guys no longer serve the interests of the people or the success of the country as a whole, and survive on populist rhetoric and periodically reminding their constituents of the now ageing ‘injustices of the past’ theme.
I acn’t argue with that Norman, that is a large part of the issue.