So our president has finally joined the chorus condemning xenophobic attacks on African immigrants.
So our president has finally joined the chorus condemning xenophobic attacks on African immigrants.
Well and good. What I find baffling is the deafening silence on his part after the brutal post-elections attacks on Zimbabweans in their own country.
Victims of these assaults, maiming and killing at the hands of the power-hungry Robert Mugabe's henchmen include children, women and the elderly.
Their sin? Exercising their democratic right to vote for a political party of their choice. As for the innocent children, one can only wonder why they had to suffer like this.
Apart from President Thabo Mbeki's mysterious silence about this reign of terror, one still has to hear other leaders condemning Mugabe's atrocities with the same vigour they condemned their own people of Alexandra - the likes of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and others.
Are these contrasting responses a case of quiet diplomacy for the Zimbabwe crisis (yes, there is a crisis) and loud diplomacy at home to placate Western investors?
This sickening selective morality and double standards is symptomatic of a country that is sorely lacking in decisive political leadership and good governance.
Sam Mathe, Johannesburg
SA plagued by double standards
So our president has finally joined the chorus condemning xenophobic attacks on African immigrants.
So our president has finally joined the chorus condemning xenophobic attacks on African immigrants.
Well and good. What I find baffling is the deafening silence on his part after the brutal post-elections attacks on Zimbabweans in their own country.
Victims of these assaults, maiming and killing at the hands of the power-hungry Robert Mugabe's henchmen include children, women and the elderly.
Their sin? Exercising their democratic right to vote for a political party of their choice. As for the innocent children, one can only wonder why they had to suffer like this.
Apart from President Thabo Mbeki's mysterious silence about this reign of terror, one still has to hear other leaders condemning Mugabe's atrocities with the same vigour they condemned their own people of Alexandra - the likes of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and others.
Are these contrasting responses a case of quiet diplomacy for the Zimbabwe crisis (yes, there is a crisis) and loud diplomacy at home to placate Western investors?
This sickening selective morality and double standards is symptomatic of a country that is sorely lacking in decisive political leadership and good governance.
Sam Mathe, Johannesburg