De Klerk Foundation: Racism debate drowning out rape crisis

The outrage over comments by the “hapless Judge Mabel Jansen” is “quite understandable”‚ but has “distracted attention from the shocking reality that South Africa has by far the highest rape rate in the world”.

That’s the position of the FW de Klerk Foundation which described Jansen’s “recently exposed comments on social media that black South Africans have a culture of rape” as “crass and offensive”

 “At the very least‚ the Judge’s sally into the social media minefield with such ill-considered comments showed a lack of judgment — presumably a key requirement for her job‚” the foundation’s Dave Stewart wrote on Wednesday

“The vehement response of black South Africans‚ politicians‚ the media‚ the legal profession and political parties to Jansen’s comments is quite understandable — particularly in the current emotionally volatile climate of race relations.”

 But‚ given that “there were 132/100 000 rapes in South Africa in 2010…six times the rate in the United States; 65 times the rate in Uganda; and more than 270 times the rate in India”‚ Stewart argued‚ “surely‚ the devastating impact of rape on so many of our women and the unacceptable conditions in which so many South Africans still subsist should be the focus of our attention and the objects of our anger?”

“Unfortunately‚ the overheated debate on race is drowning out the consideration that we should be giving to the serious challenges that confront South Africa — including the need for a rational debate on racism itself.

 “As the debate becomes more heated — it also becomes more intolerant and one-directional.”