Real History, Not ANC "History"

Sent to The Star, Johannesburg, Mon 19/10/2015 08:46. Published Tuesday 27 October 2015 as “DA defends democracy today as in the past”.

                                                             

Kelly Sithole, in The Star Letters, October 19 (“Right decision to teach history”) makes a powerful argument for the teaching of history, and does so by demonstrating his (or her) abysmal grasp of that history.

Sithole’s letter shows the danger of parroting the simplified ANC line as if it were history.

The DA traces its lineage back to the Progressive Party.  That party’s first (and, for many years, only) MP, Helen Suzman, was probably the person most responsible for making sure that Nelson Mandela did not die in prison.  By relentlessly exposing the conditions on Robben Island, which she saw first-hand, she forced the apartheid government to improve them.

When Helen Suzman announced her retirement, she received a letter from Mandela saying: “The consistency with which you defended the basic values of freedom and the rule of law over the last three decades has earned you the admiration of many South Africans.”

This defence of democracy and the rule of law continues in the DA today.

When a National Party minister accused Helen Suzman of asking parliamentary questions that embarrassed South Africa, she replied: 'It is not my questions that embarrass South Africa; it is your answers.'

This tradition of asking the hard questions continues today with the DA Opposition in Parliament, in the Provinces, and in Metro and Town councils, where we expose corruption, nepotism, and waste.

Where the DA has a chance to govern, our commitment to performance contracts and open tender processes means that we deliver.  By the Government’s own statistics, all voters, but particularly the poor, are better off with the DA.

DA Stands for Freedom, Not Mind Control

Sent to The Star, Johannesburg, Tue 13/10/2015 08:04. Published Wednesday 14 October 2015 as “History must be balanced”

Thabo Thwala (Star Letters, Tuesday 13 October) says that the “DA wants to forget its part in history”, because DA basic education spokesman Gavin Davis is against history being made compulsory in school.

Thwala claims that the DA is a result, partly (he has the grace to admit), of the remnants of pro-apartheid stalwarts and organisations.

Perhaps due to not having been taught history in school, he does not seem to have noticed that this is true of other parties too, ex-National Party member Marthinus van Schalkwyk (for example) is a prominent member of the ANC.  Other former Apartheid supporters have found the authoritarian tendencies of the ANC more to their taste.

These dictatorial attitudes find expression in ideas like making school subjects compulsory even for those who have no aptitude for them.

The DA is not against the teaching of a balanced and fair history. It would be against the spreading of ANC propaganda under the guise of history, as the ANC desperately tries to shore up its dwindling support.

The DA, as a liberal party, is against compulsion, over-regulation, and top-down control.

The DA believes in freedom, fairness, and opportunity.

No Point Voting for the DA –Unless You Want Delivery!

Sent to "The Star, Johannesburg", Wed 04/05/2011 14:48, not published.

Pius Khumalo (The Star, Tuesday May 3 2011) says there's no point in voting for the DA because it promises what the ANC promises.  He's absolutely right – if it's promises he's after.

On the other hand, maybe he would prefer delivery?

The record shows that the DA, while it may not promise as much, delivers more. How?  By cutting out "middle-men" like corruption, incompetent deployed cadres, inflated tenders for buddies.

It has been said that the DA delivers on the ANC's promises.

The ANC reminds me of the famous Wizard of Id cartoon:

King: "Chamberlain, do you have my list of campaign promises from the last election?"
Chamberlain: "Yes, Sire"
King: "Did I keep any of them?"
Chamberlain (quaking): "No, Sire"
King: "Fine.  Use them again."

Christine Qunta's Racism Tarnishes The Star

Sent to "The Star, Johannesburg", Thu 21/05/2009 08:51, never published.

One wonders why The Star continues to publish Christine Qunta, such as the leader page article in of 20 May.  Is The Star out to reduce its credibility?  Perhaps you have to have a quota of loonies?  Maybe it is a way to discredit the ANC.  Or perhaps she keeps the Readers' Letters well stocked?

Ms Qunta is unmoved by facts, ignoring inconvenient ones in favour of her fantasy.  Perhaps a world view based on merit is so anathema to one of her talents that it cannot be tolerated?

The DA policy is that of free choice: Unlike in the ANC that dictates, DA people have choice about whether they stand for the Province or Parliament.  It's not Helen Zille's fault that most DA women chose to go to Parliament.  (Note that the ANC has nothing to say about the number of women the DA has in Parliament)

Ms Qunta drones on about Helen Zille "surrounding herself with men" in the Provincial Cabinet, but did she do this as Mayor of Cape Town?  Obviously not, since Ms Qunta doesn't mention it, and inconvenient facts are to be ignored.

It must be sad to view the world, as Ms Qunta does, through a racist lens: The truth is that all races voted for the DA –its voters are probably the most racially-mixed of all the parties'– but Qunta can only see the whites.

We have the DA's "Stop Zuma" campaign painted as "Swart Gevaar".  So anyone who is anti-Zuma is anti-black?  What nonsense!  Many intelligent black people don't want a president who is an unapologetic adulterer and willing to expose his wives to AIDS.

Ms Qunta finds Helen Zille and Julius Malema's exchange as "equally offensive rantings".  Zille's comments were factual, the ANCYL's a complete fabrication (which I look forward to seeing them justify in court).  Facts from an opponent carry the same weight in Ms Qunta's mind as fantasy by a colleague.

Despite fighting against it, the DA's members are somehow responsible for Apartheid, per Ms Qunta.  She is of course silent on Martinus van Schalkwyk and the party to which he now belongs!

Ms Qunta has the DA "portraying Africans as corrupt and incompetent people with poor sexual morals".  No, Ms Qunta,  Zuma is NOT "all Africans".  Kindly remember that Helen Zille is also an African, by virtue of being a South African.

If Ms Qunta want to eliminate "crude racism", she can do no better than start with her own thoughts.  The ANC is not the sole representative of blacks.  Anti-ANC is not anti-black:  It's a concept called "democracy".

Finally though, do spare some sympathy for Ms Qunta: Judged on the quality of her logic, the only way she can get a job is through cronyism and gender quotas.