De Klerk’s comment cut deep for many

The disruptive grandstanding by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address showed a party ready to turn anything to its political advantage.

Yet, that would be to downplay the grave importance of one of the EFF’s angles of attack – the fact that former president FW de Klerk had denied that apartheid was a crime against humanity.

The eruption of national hate that this engendered shows that De Klerk – in ways like Democratic Alliance stalwart Helen Zille – is deaf when it comes to the feelings of the vast majority of South Africans. But even Zille has agreed that apartheid was, indeed, a crime against humanity … something which is more than just an opinion, it is enshrined in international law.

It is heartening that many white South Africans have joined the chorus of condemnation of De Klerk, even if they loathe the shortcomings of the current ANC government.

However, just as many whites have resorted to “whataboutery” by highlighting the numerous failings since 1994 as a sort of moral justification for the evil system which treated people differently, and harshly, simply because of the colour of their skin.

Some people have even gone further to look at the body count, arguing that you can’t compare apartheid to the Holocaust, where many, many, more people perished. That is like saying that a person who murders 10 people is morally repugnant, but one who only kills two is not as bad.

In a way, perhaps it is good that De Klerk raised this issue now, because it is a crude litmus test about where people stand on racial issues.

Frankly, if you cannot understand why apartheid was a crime against humanity, then it must be because you don’t believe black people are part of humanity.

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