THE killing of farm workers in South Africa has become more of a natural death than a murder.
THE killing of farm workers in South Africa has become more of a natural death than a murder.
When I heard about the killing of Eugene Terre'Blanche I was shocked like most South Africans, but after giving it a second thought names such as Nelson Chisale, John Rampuru, and Kepisi Mgaga clouded my mind.
If the above names do not ring a bell for you don't panic. First, they were all black farm workers who were brutally murdered by their white employers.
Nelson Chisale was fed to the lions by Mark Scott-Crossley; John Rampuru was dragged behind a pick-up truck by his employer, Pieter Odendaal, and Kepisi Mgaga was stabbed with a sword and also dragged behind a pick-up truck.
Like most natural deaths the above murders did not polarise the country. Only the families of the deceased wept for their loved ones. There was no intense media coverage and fear among white South Africans since the victims were black.
We might live together but our past still haunts us. The media and South Africans (black and white) still see and treat each other differently.
The truth is that South Africa is well polarised. Linking Julius Malema's "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer" song to the killing of Terre'Blanche is another way the media and South Africans are trying to deviate from the truth that racism is strong and alive.
And to jump to that inference is as silly as Malema himself. The ANC failed to stop Malema from singing such an irrelevant and inappropriate song and they must face the music. The Boer has been killed!
Hopefully the killers of Terre'Blanche will be prosecuted for the killing of a human being, not of a white person.
Sibonelo Luthuli, Richards Bay
Malema is not to blame
THE killing of farm workers in South Africa has become more of a natural death than a murder.
THE killing of farm workers in South Africa has become more of a natural death than a murder.
When I heard about the killing of Eugene Terre'Blanche I was shocked like most South Africans, but after giving it a second thought names such as Nelson Chisale, John Rampuru, and Kepisi Mgaga clouded my mind.
If the above names do not ring a bell for you don't panic. First, they were all black farm workers who were brutally murdered by their white employers.
Nelson Chisale was fed to the lions by Mark Scott-Crossley; John Rampuru was dragged behind a pick-up truck by his employer, Pieter Odendaal, and Kepisi Mgaga was stabbed with a sword and also dragged behind a pick-up truck.
Like most natural deaths the above murders did not polarise the country. Only the families of the deceased wept for their loved ones. There was no intense media coverage and fear among white South Africans since the victims were black.
We might live together but our past still haunts us. The media and South Africans (black and white) still see and treat each other differently.
The truth is that South Africa is well polarised. Linking Julius Malema's "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer" song to the killing of Terre'Blanche is another way the media and South Africans are trying to deviate from the truth that racism is strong and alive.
And to jump to that inference is as silly as Malema himself. The ANC failed to stop Malema from singing such an irrelevant and inappropriate song and they must face the music. The Boer has been killed!
Hopefully the killers of Terre'Blanche will be prosecuted for the killing of a human being, not of a white person.
Sibonelo Luthuli, Richards Bay