Racism has become a useful tool for the ANC when it is found wanting

Who says racism is accredited exclusively to blacks and whites? The ANC, of course.

It’s been a useful tool in the blame game when itself is found screwing up. And who has reminded us that racism isn’t always colour-coded?

None other than the father of the victim of the disgusting university urinating incident. He who has good reason to play up the colour slant.

This is what Mkuseli Kaduka is quoted saying: “I hate the reference to colour, because this is not between black and white. It’s an argument against a specific individual who happens to be white…”

This man deserves our collective thanks for not falling for political distortions and lies. His son will ultimately survive the humiliation and come out tops if he takes his dad’s thinking to heart.

This incident is a reminder of my school days in the ’40s and ’50s (okay, so it took me a while to get a pass rate) when racism among whites was prevalent.

Thanks to the Boer War, fought between the English and Afrikaner, the nation was starkly divided. This division was used by wily politicians to inculcate Afrikaner nationalist thinking.

This proved successful and the National Party came into power in 1948. Not unlike the ANC, the Nats relied on the racist card to keep them going.

Despite white schools consisting of both language groups and housed on the same grounds, teaching was done in separate classes.

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It became obvious the Hairy Beks were spoilt with the luxury of brick buildings, whereas the clean-shaven Khakis had to make do with temporary asbestos structures.

Wherefrom Khakis and Hairy Beks? In the Boer War Afrikaans soldiers sported beards, the English wore khaki uniforms, hence the derogatory labels.

See, no love lost between the two. It’s called racism. So, nothing has changed. Except I want to believe the majority of decent, law-abiding, and thinking South Africans have moved on and seek a change in attitude.

Not unlike Kaduka, they’ve spotted the farce of playing the racist card at every turn, making their voices heard in the 2024 election.

Personally, I hope the price of blades comes down in the anticipated new dispensation. I’d hate to look like a Hairy Bek. Oops!