Empty words, deadly consequences and ANC lies: letters to the editor, September 22

Empty words, deadly consequences

The recent summit in Qatar, held after apartheid Israel’s deadly airstrike on Hamas leaders in Doha, resembled a performance of clowns, offering nothing but recycled rhetoric.

Once again, Gulf monarchies issued hollow condemnations, a performance that has failed Palestinians since 1948.As Gaza faces genocide, regional powers in the Middle East hide behind carefully crafted statements that neither stop the bombs nor stop the genocide and end the brutal occupation of Palestine. These summits are pure theatre, a display without significance or gravitas.

As governments stumble to take action against Israel, ordinary people across the globe are rising to take action where leadership has fallen short in confronting Israeli apartheid and US complicity. From mass protests to promoting boycotts, grassroots movements are filling the void left by inactive states, pushing forward the cause of justice and accountability. Their boldness and moral clarity contrast with the silence and empty rhetoric of many leaders.

This is no longer a matter of opinion. A fresh 2025 UN commission has concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The world cannot afford to look away or remain neutral.

The gravest crime of our time is unfolding before our eyes. What’s needed is concrete action: legal, political, and economic. That means sanctions, arms embargoes, and international prosecutions. It necessitates holding not just the perpetrators but also their enablers accountable. | Mohamed Saeed Pietermaritzburg

The peril of a scripted path to war

Attempts to remove international figures are, I believe, carefully scripted strategies of regime change – planned and executed with clinical precision by the architects of a New World Order. At a moment of unprecedented political, social, financial and economic upheaval, the greatest threat humanity faces is that this dark cabal could provoke a world war to usher in its “next” order.

Emerging conflicts create a platform for war lords to pursue a nefarious agendas with impunity. Disturbing events in Europe, North America, Central and South America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East look like chess pieces falling into place. Invisible rulers, it is said, dominate the political, monetary and legal systems of many nations. They have allegedly placed global communication networks under censorship and compelled them to disseminate only narratives that suit a hidden plan.

At the epicentres of global chaos, powerful leaders strike blindly, willing to risk economic meltdown or even nuclear catastrophe. Major powers, with gruesome military machines, appear ready to embrace policies that inflict mass suffering.

The world watches fleeing mothers and burning children as the pyrotechnics of war reveals the human cost. History warns that those who live by the sword may perish by it – Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan were reduced by allied force in the last great war. Yet, today’s military juggernauts seem to swallow weaker nations whole.

We are in a self-induced stupor as geopolitical tensions escalate. If a deliberate script indeed guides these events, the consequences could be civilisation-ending. The prospect of engineered conflict for the sake of a new global order is intolerable. The public must demand transparency, independent inquiry and safeguards against clandestine machinations that endanger peace.

Democratic institutions, free press and international cooperation remain our best bulwark against any orchestrated descent into global war. | Farouk Araie Johannesburg

Rethinking who ended apartheid

History has always been written from the perspective of the privileged and powerful: politicians, academics and journalists. Journalists and political commentators write the history of the present, oxymoronic as this may sound.

Before I shuffle off my mortal coil, allow me to correct some of the nonsense we read about the ANC and our liberation from apartheid.

Comparisons, they say, are odious, and our president’s remarks about how dysfunctional our municipalities have become compared to those run by the DA, have engendered widespread odium among the black commentariat, including the South African Communist Party. One newspaper banner line screamed, “Cyril betrays the ANC!”. The ANC is often depicted as the party that freed us from the shackles of apartheid. This is either a misrepresentation or an exaggeration. I do not discount the sacrifices of those who fought and died for our freedom – Blacks, whites, Indians and Coloureds – but the ANC alone did not free South Africa. Steve Biko, for example, did not belong to the ANC.

What many seem to forget is that apartheid ended because of the combined efforts of several liberation movements and the international pressure brought to bear on the apartheid regime. And now for the most inconvenient truth: In a referendum held in the white communities in 1992, over 60% of whites voted for an end to apartheid.

The role of the majority of whites in ending apartheid is conveniently forgotten and the sins of F. W. de Klerk are magnified to vilify him after his death, yet it was he who unbanned the ANC and began negotiations for a future South Africa.

Today, the ANC of Nelson Mandela is mired in corruption up to its ears. Power does indeed corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. | Harry Sewlall Sandton

Starmer etches his name in history

A standing ovation is due to UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for taking the bull by the horns with his decision to push for recognition of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations.

What a bold and courageous gesture this is amid the ongoing carnage and destruction in Palestine – yes, Palestine, not merely Gaza.

This move marks the beginning of what should become the world’s ultimate recognition of a Palestinian state – a recognition that ought to have taken place as far back as 1947, when the UK oversaw the handover of a portion of Palestine for the creation of Israel. That historical failure continues to reverberate, and it is fitting that a British leader should now take the first steps in correcting it.

Starmer’s initiative demonstrates statesmanship of the highest order. In an age when many leaders shy away from controversy, he has chosen to speak truth to power. He has set a precedent that other nations will be pressured to follow, opening the door to long-overdue justice for Palestinians.

If this recognition proceeds, Starmer will be remembered as the man who acknowledged the mistakes of the past and chose a better way forward. His stance is not only political but deeply moral, signalling that peace and justice must take precedence over expedience.

By confronting uncomfortable truths and offering a path toward fairness, Starmer is etching his name into history – not as a mere administrator but as a leader who stood tall and declared: “We all made a mistake – there is a better way.”

This is statesmanship worthy of recognition, and perhaps the first glimmer of hope for a peace too long denied. | Colin Bosman Newlands

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