Is Boesak ready to forgive us?

‘Tis the season of goodwill and forgiveness. And I’m in the spirit and 100% ready to forgive Terror Lekota for being a truly shite Cabinet minister and wishing him well in his new job as undertaker for the ANC. I can do that because I remember the “real” Lekota in the eighties when he was a truly outstanding young leader of the UDF.

And I’m also more than ready to forgive Allan Boesak for his silly transgressions and hope he will forgive the rest of us for so quickly forgetting his extraordinary heroism and charisma during those UDF days. Hopefully he will put his weight behind Cope, — which, IMHO, needs him more then he needs it.

In a wave of nostalgia I’m drawn back in time … circa 1984, to a UDF rally at the Durban City Hall packed to capacity, sweaty with excitement, graced by SA’s finest … Lekota, Boesak, Archie Gumede, Popo Molefe, Beyers Naude, Oscar Mpetha, Billy Nair, Helen Joseph, Jay Naidoo …

Just being there felt like one was making history. Lekota and Boesak gave brilliant, rousing speeches. Boesak was especially mesmerising, his falsetto voice rising higher and higher, punching home his fuck-you-Nat-pigs-we-will-bring-you-to-your-knees sermon. It was a time of fear and Boesak and Lekota were truly fearless.

We went home exhilarated, triumphant. What struck me so powerfully at the time was how deeply the UDF radiated cross-cultural non-racialism; everyone (well almost everyone) wanted to embrace it and be touched by it. It was truly infectious.

Note: This was written before Boesak was elected to the COPE exec in Bloem.