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When the South African Human Rights Commission incited citizens of Cape Town to take the writer of the article, "Why Coloureds are on each other's throat in the Western Cape and Cape Town" to the Equality Court, little did they expect their invitation to be taken up by a right wing political party such as the Democratic Alliance?
The whole Democratic Alliance led by Tony Leon together with Kent Morkel and some members mobillised for this purpose, decided that they wanted the Equality Court to rule the said article was , " harmful to society" and whether the writer because of the views expressed in the article was fit to hold public office.
It escaped all and sundry that the writer was one of only a few journalists of whatever hue in the post 1994 era who boldly went about protecting the human rights of minorities including those of "Coloureds" of the Western Cape.
In 1997 and beyond, many Coloured workers on farms, not just in Ceres, were being beaten up blue by white farmers, most of whom are Democratic Alliance members. I have asked the question, if the DA was a party of conscience how come they have not gone on campaign to cause their members to desist from this practice? Is it because they believe in private property and they think these workers are the private property of these farmers?
Where was the SAHRC in this matter? Or does Kollapen see the abuses against Africans by white farmers as being of less value than the words expressed for debate in the article concerned? How come he doesn't invite the victims of white farmer violence to bring the matter before the equality courts? Oh, I get it, its just that I worked for Nomaindia Mfeketo, the executive mayor of Cape Town whom he doesn't respect anyway and after all the DA
was involved so why not be seen to have done a good turn to is it friends hiding behind a Cape Times reporter? Remember all those "Coloured" comnentators including the likes of Soli Philander, Allan Boesak, the holier than thou Rhoda Kadalie, et al coming to the fore to defend the "Coloured" dignity. And Etv. It is public knowledge that Rhoda Kadalie doesn't hold Nomaindia Mfeketo in the highest esteem. Kadalie is also anti-black economic empowerment. She is against everything that is pro-black. Strange if one goes into her history. This website will publish her story to show the absurdity of her positions.
My news stories in the Independent Newspapers(Cape) library will bear testimony to my work on behalf of the human rights of "Coloured" communities more than any many these commentators in the post 1994 era.
And now the Equality Court has sent the case brought before it by the Democratic Alliance back to the South African Human Rights Commission.
It seems the impecable record established by the South African Human Rights Commission over the years of fighting against the human rights violations of the white apartheid regime is now about to be squandered through the carelessness of its pronouncements on this matter.
Jody Kollapen, whose comments were used in the Cape Times campaign on behalf of the Democratic Alliance little knew how he was compromising the organisation with his off the cuff pronouncements to a junior reporter, on a DA mission.
And now the Equality Court wants the South African Human Rights Commission to rule in a matter in which the SAHRC has already played a destructive role, but the difference is that they must now do it on behalf of a political party most of whose members must be laughing all the way to their political offices at the thought of the SAHRC ruling in their favour.
How can anyone who disagrees with the Democratic Alliance accept the SAHRC's "considered" views on the matter when these views have already polarised fair-minded people?
Jody Kollapen must remember that the SAHRC is not a Western Cape organization or a Cape Town organization but is a national concern. There are people who think his subjective opinions should have been kept to himself no matter how he might wish to dress them up in respectability now.
Whatever pronouncements Jody Kollapen is likely to come up with will surely incense those who think that the article in question was not what he insinuated it was. Now he must do the bidding of the Democratic Alliance ie pronounce the article in question "harmful to society" something which he has already done.
I remember in 1997 working on behalf of the respectable Sunday Independent in Wakastroom around Piet Retief town in Mpumalanga on the issue of how white part-time soldiers, who were also farmers in the area violated the human rights of poor African tenants farmers.
Jody Kollapen did not seem as concerned on their plight as he is in this case. I was the first journalist to be brought before a Military Tribunal since 1994 to explain my sources and yet the SAHRC under Kollapen folded its arms and watched. The SANDF was then under the late Joe Modise.
Did the SAHRC under Kollapen not think the human rights of those poor rural folk needed to be fought for?
Anyway we don't need to wait with abetted breath for the SAHRC's views on the matter as we know them already.
Jody Kollapen needn't worry, there wont be any political capital to be made by the DA given that those the DA expected to defect to the DA aren't doing so as events have already shown. Those forme NNP members are going to the party of the majority, the party of change, and not the party of the status quo.
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Tuesday, 23 August, 2005
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