Perhaps we should join Juju in calling for the recall of Polish ambassador

We all watched in disbelief how people of African descent, including university students, were ill-treated as they tried to catch trains to flee from the war in Ukraine to Poland early last year. The Polish officials only allowed Ukrainians and other white people, but not Africans and Asians, on the trains.

So, why are we surprised when our presidential security personnel, accompanied by a contingent of SA journalists, were not allowed to disembark from their chartered flight in Poland?

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It’s a pity the opposition party and some commentators jumped to the conclusion that it was all about wrong permits and the presidency that failed to do its duty to ensure their papers were in order.

Of course, it was an opportunity for the opposition to gain political mileage. But they all ignored the fact that Poland is notorious for being the most racist country in the world, rivalled only by the former apartheid rule in SA under the National Party.

In Poland, it is normal for a Cabinet minister or MP to boldly and publicly say Muslims migrants should not be allowed in because of the escalation of terrorism and rape in the country. Really?

We are told the detention of the South Africans on a stationary aircraft on the tarmac of Chopin Airport in Warsaw had more to do with the fact that many of them were black and Poland authorities hate people of colour.

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That brought memories of last year’s incident, when African students struggled to get out of Ukraine. Some were molested by authorities on train station platforms because of their skin colour.

Africans always forgive but will never forget and South Africans are used to apartheid and learned how to fight it – but they don’t expect to experience it outside South Africa.

Instead of criticising Poland for unnecessarily detaining journalists who came to cover an important event in the history of Africa, the Democratic Alliance spent much time and energy calling out President Cyril Ramaphosa’s mistakes.

The journalists had nothing to do with the weapons the presidential security brought to Poland and should have been allowed free passage to proceed. Why should they suffer in a geopolitical game they had nothing to do with?

Though Poland never was a Soviet state, it was a very loyal Soviet ally that paid allegiance to Moscow during the Cold War era. The fact that the Warsaw Pact agreement was signed in Poland explains its political proximity to Moscow at the time.

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But today, the country is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and is strongly anti-Russia. It goes without saying that US President Joe Biden would find Poland easy to visit during the war raging in neighbouring Ukraine to make a statement to Russia.

He wouldn’t have chosen another country than the one that has an axe to grind with Moscow.

US critics this week said Poland’s treatment of the South Africans was deliberate to punish SA because of its non-aligned stance in the Ukraine war.

According to them, had it been a US president, those weapons, presidential personnel and journalists would have passed without any hassle whatsoever.

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Only Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters identified racism in the Polish attitude. Perhaps we should join Juju in calling for the recall of the Polish ambassador to South Africa – and even send him home to answer for the ill-treatment of South Africans in Warsaw, particularly of journalists.