Ernst Roets and the misrepresentation of South Africa's progress

It is very unfortunate that divisive characters like Ernst Roets continue to be given international influential platforms like The Tucker Carlson Show to spew their bile and hatred about the unity project in South Africa. The democracy and diversity we enjoy today in South Africa did not come easily, but it was fought for with the blood and sweat of our fathers and mothers.

The vision for a democratic South Africa was never one that envisioned the country partitioned into small enclaves divided on ethnic and racial lines, but it wished for all races, classes, and ethnic groups to live in harmony with each other while embracing their diversity and using it as a strength for unity. 

However, charlatans like Roets would like to see nothing less than to erect a fence in the middle of the country and establish their own boerie settlement just as we have seen with Orania. Listening to Roets lie to Carlson with a straight face for more than an hour took a lot of energy and courage on my part to sit through that cringeworthy interview.

Roets spoke with so much disdain and disregard for the unity project that the government has embarked on since the dawn of democracy some 30 years ago. He cherry-picked his facts, provided half-baked truths, and blatantly lied about other issues, such as saying some universities were teaching critical theory. All this was to further his propaganda that there is a white genocide in South Africa and that the minority that owns the majority of land in the country was under siege. Truly, when you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.

Roets does not appreciate the fact that his freedom of speech grants him the right to criticise and say whatever he wishes to say about the South African government. Had he said these things to the Nazis one shudders to think what would have happened to him.

There are many blunders that the government of the ANC has committed over the years as it took charge of running the country’s affairs. But the Black Economic Empowerment could never be a questionable policy to address the inequities of the past, at least not in principle. We can scrutinise its implementation, individuals responsible for that, and maybe some of the prescripts within the policy. But the principle driving forces behind the policy are solid.

The majority black population was subjugated, underserved and undermined wholesale by the Apartheid government, and the best possible thing to do for a new government is to level the playing field and ensure that the next generation has equal opportunities.

If this irks Roets and his ilk so much, perhaps they should pack up and leave South Africa to its own devices and migrate to the US where the Orange Man has extended an olive branch to them to come and be refugees.

Siphelele Dludla is the news editor at Busness Report. 

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