The arrogance of Western leaders knows no bounds when it comes to how they view Africa. First, former US president Donald Trump once referred to African countries as “sh*t holes”.
Not that some of our continent's countries don't deserve castigation. But to be denounced by naked imperialists and neocolonialists is disarming.
Not long ago President Joe Biden warned African states not to side with Russia after its invasion of Ukraine... or else. Now German chancellor Olaf Scholz arrives to advise President Cyril Ramaphosa to change SA's neutral stance towards the Russia-Ukraine war to an anti-Russian stance and thus emulate that of the American empire.
This is more or less an order. There's no greater hubris than this. What, pray tell, would have happened if Ramaphosa had responded by demanding that Germany not only pay billions of euros in reparations for the 1904 holocaust in Namibia, but also for the war crimes that Germany committed against the Herero, Nama and Owambo? What would Scholz have said?
Of course, he knew that Ramaphosa would not dare make such a demand, just as he would dare not criticise Germany's wishy-washy stance on Israeli war crimes against Palestinians.
To these Westerners, Israel has a legitimate right to invade and occupy Palestine but Russia has no such rights in Ukraine. Israel needs peace and security as well as “secure borders” but Russia has no such needs.
The West needs Libyan oil, so invading Libya and helping topple Muammar Gaddafi is legitimate. The US can never tolerate Russian weapons and military presence in Cuba because they would be a threat to the US “in our own hemisphere”, but Russia must tolerate US and Nato weapons as well as military officials in Ukraine threatening Russia “in their own hemisphere!”
The former is not acceptable to the West but the latter should be acceptable to Russia. Shameless hypocrisy is boundless. Within three months of the war starting, international institutions have begun probing abuses allegedly committed by Russian forces.
Pray tell, what war crimes investigations have been conducted by international institutions on US war crimes or abuses in Afghanistan during its 20-year-old war in that country? And for Israel's occupation of Palestine since 1967? Zilch!
Prof Themba Sono, email
Western leaders are hypocrites
Image: PIC: GCIS
The arrogance of Western leaders knows no bounds when it comes to how they view Africa. First, former US president Donald Trump once referred to African countries as “sh*t holes”.
Not that some of our continent's countries don't deserve castigation. But to be denounced by naked imperialists and neocolonialists is disarming.
Not long ago President Joe Biden warned African states not to side with Russia after its invasion of Ukraine... or else. Now German chancellor Olaf Scholz arrives to advise President Cyril Ramaphosa to change SA's neutral stance towards the Russia-Ukraine war to an anti-Russian stance and thus emulate that of the American empire.
This is more or less an order. There's no greater hubris than this. What, pray tell, would have happened if Ramaphosa had responded by demanding that Germany not only pay billions of euros in reparations for the 1904 holocaust in Namibia, but also for the war crimes that Germany committed against the Herero, Nama and Owambo? What would Scholz have said?
Of course, he knew that Ramaphosa would not dare make such a demand, just as he would dare not criticise Germany's wishy-washy stance on Israeli war crimes against Palestinians.
To these Westerners, Israel has a legitimate right to invade and occupy Palestine but Russia has no such rights in Ukraine. Israel needs peace and security as well as “secure borders” but Russia has no such needs.
The West needs Libyan oil, so invading Libya and helping topple Muammar Gaddafi is legitimate. The US can never tolerate Russian weapons and military presence in Cuba because they would be a threat to the US “in our own hemisphere”, but Russia must tolerate US and Nato weapons as well as military officials in Ukraine threatening Russia “in their own hemisphere!”
The former is not acceptable to the West but the latter should be acceptable to Russia. Shameless hypocrisy is boundless. Within three months of the war starting, international institutions have begun probing abuses allegedly committed by Russian forces.
Pray tell, what war crimes investigations have been conducted by international institutions on US war crimes or abuses in Afghanistan during its 20-year-old war in that country? And for Israel's occupation of Palestine since 1967? Zilch!
Prof Themba Sono, email
Ukraine war tops talks between Ramaphosa and German counterpart
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