Annelie Botes, an Afrikaans author, told Rapport newspaper that she doesn’t like black people, she doesn’t understand them and while she knows that they are people just like her, with the same rights as her she avoids them because she is scared of them.
She blames black people for South Africa’s violent crime problem, which had claimed the life of her neighbour, and said that the violence showed blacks were “angry because of their own incompetence”.
Unsurprisingly the proverbial has hit the fan with many coming down hard on her for being prejudiced and stuck in the past while many others praised her honesty and defended her right “to like who she likes”.
The latter accordingly subscribing to some sort of special place for honesty and freedom of choice.
Undoubtedly we’ll soon be hearing from the freedom of speech brigade which is of course misguided because nowhere is her right to speak her mind in question, nor, for that matter, her freedom of to associate with whomever she pleases.
No, the real question here is how much do we really appreciate honesty and what percentage of our own prejudice colours our perception of what is the truth.
Let’s start with Botes who is a 53-year-old author with a number of her books published.
By definition someone who writes novels has to have an acute awareness of the circumstances giving rise to the type of society she is commenting on or writing about. A feel for where they are — through what they come from — and their hopes for the future.
In her case this seems to be totally lacking or, far worse, warped.
Her submission that violence showed blacks were “angry because of their own incompetence” is quite frankly staggering.
It fails on so many levels. It ignores the part played by apartheid on modern day South Africa, then assumes that “blacks” as a group are incompetent and suggests that this is the catalyst for violence.
No suggestion of lack of service delivery, apartheid, problems with our education system or any of the other grievances that have plagued the country she has lived in her whole life.
Instead of writing she should watch television, listen to the radio and buy the odd newspaper or two because she seems divorced from what is going on around her.
Yet others rally to her side to support this garbage saying that at least she’s honest.
What is honest about being misguided and an out-and-out racist?
Are incompetent whites also violent or is that just for blacks? Is a black person incompetent by definition?
It’s pathetic!
The reason why so many get behind Botes is not because what she is saying has merit — I’d love to see her put to the proof of those statements — but because many racists love hearing her say it.
That’s the truth.
When NewsTime slammed “Shoot the Boer” it’s because we don’t tolerate racism so we are sure as hell are going to slam this as well.
Botes has suggested that once her husband retires they plan to go and live in England.
We wish her well … away from here and hope that she doesn’t feel the need to write soon.
I’m just being honest.
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