On Monday, the new initiative, Racism Is NOT The Problem (RNTP) released a press statement in which it claimed two “enormous victories”.
The statement says that the cases of Ace Magashule and Jacob Zuma are victories for the goal they are trying to achieve: to make clear that racism is not the biggest problem in South Africa.
According to the statement, the first victory is that “senior ANC figure Ace Magashule was defeated in court in his appeal against his suspension, and this was a strong indication that country and the courts did not fall for Magashule’s attempts to racialise what is fundamentally a political issue.”
The second victory, the statement says, is: “The sentence handed to former President Jacob Zuma by the Constitutional Court is strong evidence that South Africa knows how to move beyond focusing on race as the biggest issue to the issues that really are far more pressing.
“The extent to which Zuma can be restored to grace according to the formula he proposes – that apartheid-era political prisoners were people of principle and conscience, and that the same applies to him today – will be an important determinant of South Africa’s political course. The notion depends on the thought that racism remains the key enemy, and that law, property rights, private enterprise (including the media), and law enforcement agencies are its puppets.”
Gabriel Crouse, the Director of the Racism Is NOT The Problem initiative, said: “Is racism the problem, or unaccountability spurred on by race-hustling? Nothing could be more clear-cut than the Zuma case. For decades his ‘keepers’ said racism was the problem and his empowerment was the solution. Critics of all colours said no, corruption is the problem and race has nothing to do with it. The court ruling is a victory for critics over keepers; if Zuma actually goes to jail, that will be the clinch.”
If you would like to know more about this new initiative you can follow this link.