Stanger Heights resident Nelson Puckree writes:
The recent passing of former president FW de Klerk – the last apartheid president – was a sad moment like the passing of any other living being.
Many are happy and overjoyed at his passing, not thinking they are also going to die.
Although apartheid was hurtful, FW de Klerk was not the architect of it and he should not shoulder all the blame.
He was a brave a man to go against his cabinet in scrapping apartheid and saving South Africa from destruction and a bloodbath.
I have the courage of my conviction to say that although apartheid was inhumane, the question is what difference has our democracy made? Nil, to say the least, or should I say it brought immense suffering to minorities and a large section of the majority who have no connections among the elites or untouchables in this country.
Under apartheid we had, among other things, law and order, limited homeless people, less unemployment, almost no corruption, no open looting and a clean environment.
We now have a democracy and the best Constitution in the world, but only on paper.
Democracy is only for a few privileged to enjoy while the rest have to suffer with indirect oppression, crime, social ills, homelessness, hunger and drug addiction.
Recent statistics show that 600 girls between the ages of 9 and 10 years have become mothers, while 33 000 teenage pregnancies were recorded last year. This is what I call a sick democracy.
If FW de Klerk is denied a state funeral, so be it. A state funeral will only be another avenue for those in charge to steal the funds, like they did with Nelson Mandela’s funeral. Many in the world respect De Klerk for his courage to scrap apartheid and all white privileges to usher in democracy, which very few enjoy.
In my opinion De Klerk was a hero who saved our country, but which is now becoming a failed state.
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