A LETTER in Beeld newspaper caused an uproar when readers disagreed on whether the nation had stood together during the time that former president Nelson Mandela was in hospital.
The letter was in response to a "prophecy" by right-wing organisation Suidlanders that when Mandela dies there will be racial war in the country and that black people will kill whites.
In his letter to the newspaper Lukie Carelsen said 99,9percent of the country stood together at the time when the former president was sick, and that it would likely be the same when he died.
Responses on the newspaper's website called Mandela a terrorist who stole land and should die.
But on the remark "hy's 'n veroordeelde terroris wat die land deur geweld gesteel het" another respondent writes: "... as dit nie vir Mandela was nie sou dinge baie verskilled vir julle poepols gelyk het... Wanneer was SA die witmense se land - julle is in Afrika, julle kan nie alleenreg het op alles nie. Pak op en loop, ons is lankal gatvol vir julle en julle onsin."
Carlsen said he couldn't believe how people responded to his letter.
"Had it not been for Mandela this country would have been in a blood-bath in 1994," Carlsen said.
AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said the organisation condemned such behaviour and they hoped for Mandela's full recovery.
"People are abusing this situation for political reasons," Kriel said. "People who stir up such emotions should be prosecuted.
"Our focus should be on people like Julius Malema, who separate the nation."
The ANC youth league said it was unfortunate that some people thought in this way about the country's former president.
"Some people miss apartheid and unfortunately for them it won't come back. They should appreciate that we are in a democratic country and there is nothing they can do to change this," ANCYL spokesperson Floyd Shivambu said.
The SA Institute of Race Relations said there was a remote chance of people killing each other after Mandela's death.
Researcher Lucy Holborn said: "Mandela's legacy has always been a nonracial one and he made a peaceful transition in this country's politics, so it's unlikely to change."
Holborn compared the situation with that of former Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging leader Eugène Terre'Blanche's death.
"When he died people expected a lot of disruption but the World Cup came and we forgot all about it and stood united - the same is likely to happen," Holborn said.
The newspaper's website removed some of the comments.
Uproar over comment on Madiba in paper
A LETTER in Beeld newspaper caused an uproar when readers disagreed on whether the nation had stood together during the time that former president Nelson Mandela was in hospital.
The letter was in response to a "prophecy" by right-wing organisation Suidlanders that when Mandela dies there will be racial war in the country and that black people will kill whites.
In his letter to the newspaper Lukie Carelsen said 99,9percent of the country stood together at the time when the former president was sick, and that it would likely be the same when he died.
Responses on the newspaper's website called Mandela a terrorist who stole land and should die.
But on the remark "hy's 'n veroordeelde terroris wat die land deur geweld gesteel het" another respondent writes: "... as dit nie vir Mandela was nie sou dinge baie verskilled vir julle poepols gelyk het... Wanneer was SA die witmense se land - julle is in Afrika, julle kan nie alleenreg het op alles nie. Pak op en loop, ons is lankal gatvol vir julle en julle onsin."
Carlsen said he couldn't believe how people responded to his letter.
"Had it not been for Mandela this country would have been in a blood-bath in 1994," Carlsen said.
AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said the organisation condemned such behaviour and they hoped for Mandela's full recovery.
"People are abusing this situation for political reasons," Kriel said. "People who stir up such emotions should be prosecuted.
"Our focus should be on people like Julius Malema, who separate the nation."
The ANC youth league said it was unfortunate that some people thought in this way about the country's former president.
"Some people miss apartheid and unfortunately for them it won't come back. They should appreciate that we are in a democratic country and there is nothing they can do to change this," ANCYL spokesperson Floyd Shivambu said.
The SA Institute of Race Relations said there was a remote chance of people killing each other after Mandela's death.
Researcher Lucy Holborn said: "Mandela's legacy has always been a nonracial one and he made a peaceful transition in this country's politics, so it's unlikely to change."
Holborn compared the situation with that of former Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging leader Eugène Terre'Blanche's death.
"When he died people expected a lot of disruption but the World Cup came and we forgot all about it and stood united - the same is likely to happen," Holborn said.
The newspaper's website removed some of the comments.
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