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Saturday 19 June 2010

MISSING THE LINK IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA

Away from the World Cup matches in South Africa, many UK journalists covering the global event, have been filing human interest stories. The trend has been to focus on blacks in the post-apartheid era. There's a missing link in the stories though.

Apartheid was not just about the subjugation of the majority black South Africans by the whites. It was also about the whites lording over the blacks and using their military might to sustain this abomination.

So it's all well and good to showcase the reflections of blacks and how they finally subdued the apartheid monster after four decades of a dedicated struggle. But that is just half the picture.

It would also be immensely interesting to find out how the whites are coping with the loss of their historical and despicable political domination in South Africa.

Critics might rightly argue this would open up racial wounds that the country has been struggling to heal in the post-apartheid era. But isn't the risk there as well, when telling the same story from the blacks' point of view?

Somebody needs to tell the world if at all the whites have truly shed off their mistaken superiority aura in a typically black man's country. Are they suffering from any hangups of domination or are they genuinely repentant and willing to integrate?

The last time I was in Cape Town, I had a strong feeling that racial inequalities still existed, despite the dismantling of the apartheid regime. I never did come across mixed marriages or even a case of dating across the racial divide.

So yes. we know the blacks are still struggling despite taking over political leadership. But a little insight into the ordinary lives of white South Africans, on the sidelines of the World Cup coverage, would be a welcomed change.

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