Publications
Partners
Cover image: Robert Hamblin
It seems like a lot of the stories in the papers are about our unhealthy obsession with race. South Africa finds itself unable to advance beyond the issue of skin colour. It’s unfortunate, but it’s there.
I’m happy to be white, but I don’t consider it the most important thing about me. As a result, I’m not overly concerned with racial epithets and pay less attention to the idea that some other white person doing something stupid is a bad reflection on me.
Other white people seem to disagree. There are some who believe in some kind of white solidarity. They must have been very sorry for it in 2001 when they read about the Waterkloof Four.
Gert van Schalkwyk, along with his mates Christoff, Frikkie and Reinach, went out one moonlit night and in cold blood murdered a homeless black man in a park in Pretoria. In 2005, the four were found guilty of the murder of the unidentified black man and of assaulting another.
The crimes were committed when they were 16 years old and still in school. They have since repeatedly appealed their sentences, but remain guilty of murder.
Taking some time off from murdering people, Christoff has made a few TV ads and Gert was at one time selected to play for the Mpumalanga Pumas (if you haven’t heard of them, it’s OK, they’re not very good).
I’m not very happy with that.
Does this not make you very uncomfortable?
I took a few calls on my radio show that week and this white guy mentioned that he thought we should give them a chance. I wonder if he’d say that about a black rapist, or a corrupt black minister? I doubt it. When I asked him how he felt about crime, he said he’d be emigrating to Australia at the end of the year because of crime.
Doesn’t that strike you as just a little bit ironic? This guy says that crime is out of control and he is even thinking of going away forever to get away from crime, but in the same breath he thinks that I’m grossly unfair for saying that the Waterkloof Four should be in jail and that they shouldn’t be given high-profile jobs.
I’m confused – or is he?
There are still some white people in South Africa who have come up with great new ways to disguise their contempt for blacks.
How often have you observed someone complain bitterly about government, crime (always crime), service delivery and the police, and simultaneously throw away litter, gather speeding fines, park in handicapped parking bays, buy fake DVDs on the street, or perhaps do something more serious – like go into business with Glenn Agliotti?
It’s the very worst kind of hypocrisy, and it stinks. If you are, as I am, sick to death of people breaking the rules, then you must accept that the rules apply equally to you. If you don’t pay your taxes, or you shoot out streetlights, or you don’t stop at the red lights, you’re breaking the law.
You’re no better than the source of your ire. I saw a guy peeing on the side of the road the other day. It all starts there.
That’s public indecency.
The police don’t need to arrest you for it to be wrong. A judge doesn’t need to convict you for it to be wrong, and you don’t need to be locked in jail for it to be wrong. It’s just wrong. If a black man can be wrong, a white man can be just as wrong.
For some people this is not a very logical thing. There are people who organise car-hijacking syndicates and run drug cartels by day and invite their affluent friends over by night.
At the braai, both parties are entirely aware of the wickedness of the host’s enterprises, but have the temerity to complain about government corruption while downing a beer together. It’s preposterous.
Those four white guys are not going to jail for being racists; they’re going to jail for murdering a man.
You could be their parents, but you have to admit there is no justifiable reason for us to rally around these boys. They, just like all the other murderers in our country, are the enemy of good, law-abiding citizens and we should let them know it.
This exclusive extract was published with permission from Jonathan Ball publishers.
Do you agree with Gareth? Share your opinion below
Sign up for our book club newsletter and look out for our review of Gareth Cliff on Everything, coming next week.
Want a copy of the book? Buy it now!
I’m happy to be white, but I don’t consider it the most important thing about me. As a result, I’m not overly concerned with racial epithets and pay less attention to the idea that some other white person doing something stupid is a bad reflection on me.
Other white people seem to disagree. There are some who believe in some kind of white solidarity. They must have been very sorry for it in 2001 when they read about the Waterkloof Four.
Gert van Schalkwyk, along with his mates Christoff, Frikkie and Reinach, went out one moonlit night and in cold blood murdered a homeless black man in a park in Pretoria. In 2005, the four were found guilty of the murder of the unidentified black man and of assaulting another.
The crimes were committed when they were 16 years old and still in school. They have since repeatedly appealed their sentences, but remain guilty of murder.
Taking some time off from murdering people, Christoff has made a few TV ads and Gert was at one time selected to play for the Mpumalanga Pumas (if you haven’t heard of them, it’s OK, they’re not very good).
I’m not very happy with that.
Does this not make you very uncomfortable?
I took a few calls on my radio show that week and this white guy mentioned that he thought we should give them a chance. I wonder if he’d say that about a black rapist, or a corrupt black minister? I doubt it. When I asked him how he felt about crime, he said he’d be emigrating to Australia at the end of the year because of crime.
Doesn’t that strike you as just a little bit ironic? This guy says that crime is out of control and he is even thinking of going away forever to get away from crime, but in the same breath he thinks that I’m grossly unfair for saying that the Waterkloof Four should be in jail and that they shouldn’t be given high-profile jobs.
I’m confused – or is he?
There are still some white people in South Africa who have come up with great new ways to disguise their contempt for blacks.
How often have you observed someone complain bitterly about government, crime (always crime), service delivery and the police, and simultaneously throw away litter, gather speeding fines, park in handicapped parking bays, buy fake DVDs on the street, or perhaps do something more serious – like go into business with Glenn Agliotti?
It’s the very worst kind of hypocrisy, and it stinks. If you are, as I am, sick to death of people breaking the rules, then you must accept that the rules apply equally to you. If you don’t pay your taxes, or you shoot out streetlights, or you don’t stop at the red lights, you’re breaking the law.
You’re no better than the source of your ire. I saw a guy peeing on the side of the road the other day. It all starts there.
That’s public indecency.
The police don’t need to arrest you for it to be wrong. A judge doesn’t need to convict you for it to be wrong, and you don’t need to be locked in jail for it to be wrong. It’s just wrong. If a black man can be wrong, a white man can be just as wrong.
For some people this is not a very logical thing. There are people who organise car-hijacking syndicates and run drug cartels by day and invite their affluent friends over by night.
At the braai, both parties are entirely aware of the wickedness of the host’s enterprises, but have the temerity to complain about government corruption while downing a beer together. It’s preposterous.
Those four white guys are not going to jail for being racists; they’re going to jail for murdering a man.
You could be their parents, but you have to admit there is no justifiable reason for us to rally around these boys. They, just like all the other murderers in our country, are the enemy of good, law-abiding citizens and we should let them know it.
This exclusive extract was published with permission from Jonathan Ball publishers.
Do you agree with Gareth? Share your opinion below
Sign up for our book club newsletter and look out for our review of Gareth Cliff on Everything, coming next week.
Want a copy of the book? Buy it now!
