I WOULD like to respond to Helen Zille's " Choking democracy" article.

I WOULD like to respond to Helen Zille's " Choking democracy" article.

I would like to tell our lovely Helen that being a politician is like running a business and making a costly transaction that will bleed you to death.

Poor Helen is now emotional about it or maybe she is trying to allay her supporters' fears.

Our lovely Helen and her lieutenants have the wrong idea about poverty alleviation programmes and service delivery . According to them all these programmes need to be implemented at the expense of the poor and vulnerable.

This mentality emanates from the past, when the people who challenged apartheid were regarded as tsotsis. This is absolute arrogance and disrespect for human dignity.

Our lovely Helen should realise that the day and time is gone whereby such decisions are made by any leaders and or organisations in South Africa.

The effects of apartheid are a serious problem which still affects us. We see this problem everywhere and it is so serious because it is within us.

The worst part is that all South Africans - black, white, green, yellow - have this embedded in us. We have to heal ourselves even though it is not easy.

The best medicine is our Constitution that tries to improve our health status.

Our lovely Helen must wake up and see that the world has changed. She must get rid of her stereotypical thinking and do the right thing by providing the best service to the poor, and treat people with respect.

Dear Helen, what you did was wrong and it is wrong not to acknowledge that your decision was very very wrong.

Jacob Khanye, Joburg