EDITOR – Kevin Dunkley responds on behalf of Save Our Berea to Vanessa Burger:
I refer to Vanessa Burger’s letter ‘Quit SOBing, says resident’ (Berea Mail, 23 January).
At a time when the citizens of South Africa are involved in a struggle against corruption and cronyism, and when our Constitution is under threat from the very people who participated in its genesis, Save Our Berea, like many other civic groups, is rallying activists to form a common front that cuts across race and political party lines to combat this assault on our rights.
The purpose of our article was to alert ratepayers to the CPB initiative, for which we will pay, and which we believe falsely gives the impression of a caring administration when in fact the opposite is true. We gave examples of why we hold that view, but Ms Burger used a mere 10 per cent of her response to agree with us and then devoted the rest of her letter to a spiteful personal attack on our integrity.
What is her reason for this? What produced the venom? She is an activist like us, so why not find common ground? We may differ in opinion on some issues, but surely in this time of crisis we should stand together?
Is it jealousy because our campaign is successful, while her Umbilo Action Group is moribund after she failed to raise money to run it? We have been going for 14 months without funds, but we have not asked the public to give us any. Was it lack of funding that closed her down? Or was it her radical style? Civic activism is not a competition, Ms Burger, so what did you hope to achieve by such a personal attack? What is your agenda?
She uses words like ‘ill-informed’ and ‘intolerant’ to describe us. Her use of our organisation’s acronym into the word ‘SOBbing’ to describe our ‘petulant’ criticism of Council is nothing but puerile and deserves no further comment.
Without ever meeting us, she hides behind her pen and implies we are racist. Racism is the antipathy of what we believe in, Ms Burger. A racial accusation is the last refuge of the politically inept. It has been used again and again to counter any legitimate argument in our country, and has become a blight on free debate. It is used to deflect attention away from the corruption and ineptitude in our society, and also the truth. Racism is the first cousin of a wider bigotry which is defined as intolerance towards those who hold different opinions. Is this what motivated your response, Ms Burger?
You challenged me to ‘put my money where my mouth is’ and withhold my rates. SOB has already investigated that method of protest and we found it fraught with legal implications ratepayers will want to avoid. Also, such a boycott would hurt the very people already marginalised in our society and who you claim to champion. But having made the challenge, can we make one in return? You imply you are already putting your ‘money where your mouth is’ by withholding your rates, why not share your modus operandi with us so that we can understand how your suggestion can work?
Kevin Dunkley
Berea
