The racism prevalent in the Indian community has received much coverage over the last two weeks, starting with the incident when the EFF's Floyd Shivambu voiced his concerns over the presence of Treasury deputy director-general Ismail Momoniat in Parliament. Julius Malema has added fuel to this fire as he continues to highlight the racism issue among Indians.
Firstly, racism does exist among a great many Indian people but, so too, racism exists among the other racial and ethnic groups that make up South Africa's richly diverse population.
The fact that Malema is clearly in election mode and is seeking any populist idea that can be exploited, including fomenting racial hatred among the various race groups, does not diminish the hugely irresponsible manner he adopts to address what is a very serious issue.
As South Africans we need to have a serious dialogue about all forms of racism and prejudice as, besides changing laws and putting black faces in Parliament, our nascent democracy has failed to alter the power relationships of everyday life through meaningful economic and social transformation. Creating enclaves of wealth and privilege where the chosen few of all races may live is not the type of transformation that a country with the greatest inequality needs.
Malema's rants have nothing to do with improving this situation or deepening democracy and empowerment. It is the rants of a person who is willing to choose any populist idea, that has the greatest chance of taking root among the poverty stricken, and to use it to win votes at the next election.
The history of the world is soaked in the blood of the innocent, as populist leaders used them as convenient, easy and acquiescent targets to enable their power grabs.
Much is made of the additional benefits and privileges that were afforded to Indian people under the illegitimate apartheid regime. This is historically correct but does not explain the tremendous improvement in the living conditions of Indian people over the century and a half that they have been in South Africa. Perhaps, if Malema was sincere, he would encourage people to study how this came about because, clearly, it is not about simple apartheid derived advantage.
To illustrate this point one need look no further than other countries in the world where Indian people did not have the benefits of being placed above (or below) any other race group. People of Indian origin occupy senior academic, professional and leadership (business and government) positions that are not commensurate with their proportion of the population. In fact, occasionally, it far outstrips their proportion of the population.
Apartheid and colonialism wreaked havoc on people all over the world. It destroyed self-belief, self-respect and the very fabric of society so that a vicious self-fulfilling cycle was established. Indian people have also been victims of this in their old homeland and in their new homeland in South Africa.
The key that unlocked development is the strong belief, and commitment to, education and development. Malema and Shivambu are highly educated people who deserve great respect for their achievements, as it was done while building a political party. Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, of the EFF, is the person I hold out to my children as an example of how they ought to conduct their lives (not just because he has a PhD but his achievements as a communicator from a young age - I play his TV interview often for my children).
I find it hard to believe that people who have displayed such commitment to "superior logic" (just saying it, doesn't make it logical) and to educational achievement are so willing to abandon intellectual rigour when it comes to interrogating racism in all its forms or in engaging constructively with the pressing issues that our society faces.
Anybody can get on a soapbox and win a crowd but it takes real leadership to move people towards each other.
