Presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj told a gathering of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies that the attainment of democracy was just the beginning of a long road to repair the scars of apartheid.
Speaking at a Jewish ceremony to mark Passover, Maharaj said many people seem to think now that democracy has been attained, people can sit back and enjoy.
“It’s exactly the opposite – democracy has ushered in an era of hard work, where people need to focus their energies into repairing the scars inflicted on our people, both black and white, by years of apartheid,” he said to an audience that included a lot of ANC heavyweights from the Jewish and black communities.
“This is not going to be an overnight job but one that will take forever to fix, in the same way it took us forever to defeat and finally begin the journey of dismantling all the apartheid institutions to replace them with democratic ones.
“The problems you see today and the heated political debates are part of that healing process which is an endeavour to deepen the institutions of a democratic state and allow for robust debate to take place.”
Maharaj narrated a story of Northern Ireland, where the Republicans and the Unionists had come to South Africa during the height of their own peace talks to learn from South Africa’s success.
“During their stay in this country, the two parties refused to share a hotel venue for the briefing and meals in one room. We had to brief them in separate venues and they had to sleep and dine in different hotels. They [did] not want to be lumped together into one room and get their briefing,” he said.
“When we told President [Nelson] Mandela that they [did] not want to be addressed jointly and that he would have to address the Unionists separately and do the same for the Republicans, he agreed but he had one message for them – that one day they will have to face one another, share a room and eat from the same table as enemies.
“We did that in South Africa and it worked, and that time has come for you too. You need each other to solve your problems. This business of not eating together and seeing eyeball-to-eyeball must end in the interests of Northern Ireland and its people,” Mandela had told the visitors.
