Letter to the editor, October 23

A call for Black empowerment

Two principles remain constant, regardless of human development: 1) Wounds can be healed through treatment, and time is merely the medium through which healing happens; without treatment, time alone will not heal. 2) If you have the will, you can make things happen.

The Black race continues to struggle with accepting these truths. Across Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, and Brazil, the presence of dark skin often signals division, and Black people frequently struggle to unite. Despite shared trauma, these divisions lead to inevitable defeat. For instance, in America, Black Africans and African Americans often find it difficult to support one another due to historical wounds, while in South Africa, foreign Black Africans are often scapegoated for the country’s problems.

This fragmentation is worsened by tribalism and internal divisions. Black South Africans, once united against apartheid, have now divided themselves into “urban” and “rural” categories, with urban dwellers looking down on those from rural areas. Xenophobia also runs deep, as many South Africans who endured colonial oppression now direct their anger at other Black Africans, rather than the structures that maintain inequality.

The failure to unite is evident even in leadership. Figures like Thabo Mbeki, who championed the “African Renaissance,” faced fierce opposition from his own people, based on ancestry and lineage. Sadly, this lack of unity, rooted in centuries of division and dehumanisation, continues to plague Black societies worldwide. Until we confront these internal conflicts, the Black race remains fractured.

Amen, if it does not violate the Constitution. | Khotso Moleko Bloemfontein

How school achieved a 100% pass rate

I get goose bumps when I read about a school in the township getting a 100% pass rate. I want to sincerely congratulate them. It is an inspiring and motivational piece of work.

If every school in the township can get even close to a result like this. Township schools don’t have the necessary resources, but are trying their utmost.

To have learners that strive “rather for mastery than mediocrity” is a big statement. Not all schools can attest to that standard.

The whole essence of achieving 100% is in the type of learner that are accepted at your school. I get excited if a township school get a 70 or 80%pass rate, because that speaks volumes of the calibre of its teachers.

Those teachers must endure abuse, threats all the communities social ills and all. That is a true reflection of 100 %... that excite a person.. Because to struggle and get learners to achieved that type of results under trying circumstances speaks volumes...I am not being negative but only stating the facts that no one is alluding to.

God bless our matriculants of 2025. | P Hendricks Hanover Park

Why is Trump so afraid of Putin?

Donald Trump’s many thoughtless utterances during his reign are legendary – from his threats to annex Greenland and Canada to suggesting Gaza should be turned into a playground for the rich. But topping the list of his absurd remarks is his recent claim that the war in Ukraine is a result of Putin and Zelenskyy “hating each other.”The success of Trump’s lie lies in his ability to deliver it with a straight face, making it all the more believable to gullible individuals. The reality, known to all but the uninformed, is that the war in Ukraine was caused by Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of his neighbor. Putin’s goal is to restore the USSR to its former glory, not some petty rivalry or hatred with President Zelenskyy. This suggestion is nothing more than a ruse to shift blame onto Zelenskyy.Until Trump uses his influence to stop Putin’s war machine, the devastation will continue. The question remains: why is Trump so petrified of Putin? What’s really going on? | Colin Bosman Newlands

CR economical with the truth

Is it Phala Phala again?

President Cyril Ramaphosa has previously denied in parliament that he ever met Hangwana Maumela.

But after his neighbour blew the whistle on him, a bleary-eyed president sheepishly admitted in parliament last Tuesday he knows the R2-billion Tembisa thief.

After getting caught out, he explained he met Maumela twice outside while going for a walk in the plush Sandton neighbourhood. He also elaborated that Maumela was a distant relative. He was first wife’s nephew. But the neighbour is insistent that Ramaphosa was a frequent visitor at Maumela’s sprawling mansion.

Maumela is one of the scoundrels implicated in the R2-billion Tembisa scandal.

He has a three-storey mansion with a fleet of luxury cars, including three Lamborghinis – each worth several million rand. Surely the president of a country who is serious about clean governance should have been curious about Maumela’s opulent lifestyle and made enquiries as to how he became rich so quickly? Or was he happy to see that Maumela was one of many people profiteering under his rule?

Now the big question is: Who is lying and who is telling the truth? Should you believe the president who has already been involved in another scandal and who at first denied knowing Maumela? Truth is a rare commodity among politicians.

I’d rather believe the neighbour. I just hope he doesn’t get silenced like Deonarain. | Thyagaraj Markandan Kloof

South Africa: The land of legal battles

South Africa once known as “The Land of The Big Five,” is now “The Land of Commissions of Inquiry,” having spent over R1.7 billion since 1996.

Legal battles have triggered a constitutional crisis, with some leaders blatantly defying the law, others using the legal process to delay justice, and some testing the system for personal gain. The Constitution was designed to limit arbitrary government power, ensuring equal rules for both the powerful and the weak.

However, South Africa has faced periods of constitutional deviation and abrogation, with the courts often called to restore constitutional rule. Former French Prime Minister George Bidault once said that a nation’s fortune depended on its constitution, how it functioned, and the respect it commanded.

While our courts have upheld demo­cratic norms, ongoing legal battles threaten to undermine the rule of law, potentially leaving the country governed by executive decree. | Farouk Araie Johannesburg