Love or hate General Obasanjo, the man had sense especially when it came to exposing his hatred of Apartheid and racism; especially, those like Thatcher and her acolytes who didn’t see any problem with it. It is most shameful that prominent people like ex South African President Thabo Mbeki would openly state “You can call me a Thatcherite”.
The Thatcherite In Action
It is easy to see why Mbeki aligned himself with Thatcher. He ruled with an iron fist and implemented a radical change from RDP to GEAR infuriating many groups who were marginalised along the way. Thatcher had also done the same thing in England resulting in severe hardship to people stuck in poverty. That was how Mbeki ran things in South Africa disenfranchising the long suffering black masses and condemning them to eternal servitude.
Mbeki’s Policies Destroyed The Poor
Like Thatcher, Mbeki’s iron fist rule created many foes in the way he did things. But one thing is certain, his policy changes destroyed the future of the poor and disenfranchised masses in South Africa who were condemned to a lifetime of poverty while capitalists and imperialists were granted economical dominance of the rich repository of South Africa’s resources. Economic oppression was allowed to continue while social justice was relegated to the dustbin. And in its place was a sham played out to the international audience in a drama called the Truth And Reconciliation Charade [TRC] with Archbishop Tutu in the starring role and playing up to the gallery.
The letter by General Obasanjo below highlights some of the despicable traits of Thatcher. It also makes some level headed individuals wonder why some of our leaders speak with admiration for Thatcher when some like Obasanjo saw the worst in her.
General Obasanjo’s Letter
“An open letter to Mrs Margaret Thatcher from General Olusegun Obasanjo
August 1986
Dear Margaret,
After our meeting on Sunday, I write as one committed democrat to another. Yours is an old country with a lengthy democratic tradition; mine a new country undergoing a press of nation-building. But as democrats, we can be frank with each other.
As you know, I came to the EPG (Eminent Persons’ Group) mission with reluctance. It was difficult enough for me as an African and especially as a Nigerian to contemplate exchanging pleasantries with those responsible for the institutionalised oppression of so many of my brothers and sisters.
My repugnance was exacerbated by the widely held perception that the EPG was a substitute for action won by you at Nassau for the benefit of P.W. Botha. However, I persuaded myself that whatever the odds, the prize was so great that I should overcome my personal feelings.
Not that I was prepared for what we found. As you know, even Tony Barber – a frequent traveller to South Africa – was appalled by what he was to see in that other South Africa which visitors seldom see. We jointly expressed our shock and dismay in our report.
I have seen extremes of poverty and of oppression in many parts of the world. But South Africa unashamedly moulds both elements into a system which enables the white minority to enjoy a “Dallas” lifestyle at the expense of the great majority forced to endure conditions as degrading as anything I have seen anywhere.
In our discussions, Malcolm Fraser and I tried to convey the true nature of the system and were against cosmetic changes which have merely softened the face of apartheid.
However, such was our discussion that I must ask: Did you even read our report?
I infer from what you said that afternoon that you had not. You concentrated on the trivia of the Government’s “reforms” – like the welcome but essentially insignificant repeal of the Mixed Marriages Act – and ignored their implacable opposition to changes in the basic pillars of apartheid.
As we emphasised, to begin to dismantle apartheid, the Population Registration Act and the Group Areas Act must be repealed without being replaced by some measure designed to achieve the same ends under a different guise.
You gave credence to the dangerous notion that the political rights of the dispossessed can be adequately met by what President Botha calls “group rights” at the expense of individual rights and freedoms. Despite all the talk of “power sharing” between different communities, our inescapable conclusion was that this was a cloak for power remaining in white hands, and the essentials of apartheid continuing unchanged.
Nor have you any appreciation of the issue of violence. The apartheid system has an inherent violence which, through forced removals and the creation of barren homelands, has created the fiction of a white land and through the barrel of the gun, denies blacks any form of legitimate political expression.
We are all opposed to violence other than in self-defence. Why should blacks not have a right to defend their own families, homes and freedoms?
Your “moral revulsion” for sanctions struck me as unconvincing. The economic sanctions you so energetically pursued against Poland, Afghanistan and Argentina were brushed aside in your determination to withhold their application to South Africa. Yet to many of us there is only one significant difference: the victims in South Africa are black. Is sauce for the Aryan goose not sauce for the Negroid gander?
Your concentration of the economic effectiveness of sanctions is disingenuous if not hypocritical. Sanctions were imposed against Poland, Afghanistan and Argentina as political expressions of outrage.
Nor can your opposition be based on any assessment of where the best interests of Britain lie. Your country has considerable trade with South Africa, but this is dwarfed by that enjoyed with the rest of Africa: it cannot be in Britain’s interests to encourage them to place their orders elsewhere.
Further, your appearance as an apologist challenges the democratic forces in South Africa to seek help from whatever quarter they can. The longer-term consequences for Britain, the United States and the West could be considerable.
But most of all, I was dismayed by your lack of vision. You offered no action as an alternative to sanctions. You insisted that nothing whatever be done – even though in the final analysis you moved a little. There is no vision of a way ahead; simply a forlorn hope that P.W. Botha would experience a “Road to Damascus” conversion on the road to Soweto. Such hopes are in vain.
Sooner or later, Botha or his successor will be driven to negotiate meaningfully. Sir Geofferey’s visit again confirmed that Botha is not yet under sufficient pressure to do so – despite a dwindling rand, escalating inflation, a declining economy and mounting violence. More pressure must come.
I must tell you that many people around the world view your continued opposition to sanctions as founded on instinct, not logic and as displaying a misguided tribal loyalty and myopic political vision. The consequences of such perceptions are far-reaching for a country which has traditionally claimed the high ground of principle.
Not only does the mental laager of the Boer seem to be mirrored in your own attitudes, but his fatal concessions of too little, too late are paralleled by your actions.
I am glad that the Commonwealth has moved on without you and I know that sooner rather than later, Britain will have to join us. I also know that apartheid will end, and its demise will be the product of a combination of internal and external pressures. The equation is a simple one. The less the external pressure, the greater will be the price to be paid internally.
Those who seek to minimise sanctions and their effect will have the blood of thousands, if not millions, of innocents on their hands and on their consciences. My heart will be heavy but my hands will be clean. Will yours?
(General Olusegun Obasanjo was Head of the Federal Military Government of Nigeria 1976 – 79 when he handed over power to an elected civilian government. He is also a member of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons’ Group)”
Truth and Reconciliation Charade
When one critically analyses Thabo Mbeki’s declaration that he is a Thatcherite, it explains why he and Mandela betrayed the ANC Freedom Charter in their secret negotiations with the Afrikaner Broderbond in Zambia and in Bath, England. Mandela was more impressed with being served a cup of tea by a white man than the economic destiny of his people. The lengths some black men will go to sell out their own for a cup of sugar baffles many Pan Africans. The Afrikaner Broderbond were prominent politicians, businessmen, member of the intelligence and police forces plus other white supremacists who ran South Africa.
Members Of The PAC Were Left To Rot In Prison By Mandela After Independence
The betrayal of the masses by two of South Africa’s prominent black leaders is seen in how the Afrikaner Broderbond were never called to testify at the Truth and Reconciliation Charade. Even Archbishop Tutu turned a blind eye to their exclusion yet prominent South African activists like Winnie Mandela were called to testify. White perpetrators were forgiven yet members of the PAC are still languishing in prison today and left to rot by the ANC government. It is ironic since Mandela was sentenced to prison for a lifetime yet he would leave fellow black brothers in the struggle to rot as political prisoners. So what is good enough for white folks was not good enough for the black population. The black man still remains marginalised in the new South Africa.
White Capital Triumphed At The Expense Of The Masses
The failure of the Afrikaner Borderbond to appear to answer questions at the Truth and Reconciliation Charade points out to how foreign [white] capital triumphed at the expense of the masses. The people’s revolution was sold out to create a black ham in the white sandwich, i.e. a small black middle class which mainly compromised of people who were linked to the ANC and for their struggle credentials they would would be rewarded with tenders and access to capital which explains how many black liberation fighters aligned with the ANC acquired their wealth. It is not rocket science how some of them are among Africa’s wealthiest people. Struggle credentials are golden passports to wealth accumulation in the Rainbow Nation.
Marikana Stands As An Epitaph In The Mind
It is a sad state affairs that the great ANC sold out its masses and it is now a shadow of its former self and behaves like the the Afrikaner National Party protecting white interests at the expense of the masses. It seems like the Afrikaner National Party merely changed name and changed into the ANC and put a black mask over its white face. Marikana stands as an epitaph in the minds of many and this poignant symbol will remind us of the worst excesses of international capital and the African’s failure to control his/ her own resources. Marikana is a symbol that illustrates how the black man still remains subjugated under Economic Apartheid.
To Majority Rule Not Meant To Upset White Interests
One thing clear from General Obasanjo’s letter is that Apartheid only continued for so long because it was economically supported by both the UK and USA. They drove the negotiations and the change to majority rule wasn’t supposed to upset their economical interests. Therefore, Mandela and Mbeki made a compromise to protect the interests of the UK and USA.
An Imperial And Capitalist Corporate Mascot
This is why the UK and USA approached the South African problem with a half hearted approach as General Obasanjo questioned “Is sauce for the Aryan goose not sauce for the Negroid gander?” Mandela was created into a global icon because he protected international interests at the expense of his people; therefore, he became an imperial and capitalist corporate mascot to be wheeled out at corporate functions by people who had previously called him a terrorist. International celebrities and foreigners had more access to him than his own people. Every capitalist, imperialist or politician who wanted to wash away their sins made their way to South Africa to have photographs taken with Mandela to get their sins washed away by the “great saint Nelson” and they would emerge with renewed political capital. Their sins would be washed away and they would appear to the public whiter than snow. Even supporters of Apartheid like David Cameron all wanted to be associated with the saint yet they had violently opposed in his struggle against Apartheid. It is not a pure coincidence Cameron was a Thatcher admirer and also leads the same Conservative Party.
EFF Will Be A Relevant Factor In South African Politics
As long as South Africa remains economically dominated by outsiders and a tiny minority, conditions for the majority in South Africa will remain as bad or if not worse than it was during Apartheid. Julius Malema may have a crude approach to politics but he is asking very relevant questions that the youth are beginning to ask; this explains why the EFF will be a relevant factor in South African politics for a long time to come. This is why the youth support the EFF. The hope for South Africa lies in the youth.
Dr. Mamphela Ramphele And Agang Won’t Challenge Status Quo
The EFF and the youth offer a genuine challenge to the status quo unlike Ramphele’s AGANG. It is interesting to note that Dr. Mamphela Ramphele was a Managing Director at the World Bank, an institution known for its harsh economic policies that have devastated Africa and the third world. Therefore, she is not likely to want to upset their hegemony or upset the economic cart. That leaves the struggle to upset the current economic status in the hands of the common man as Steve Biko once said “Black man you are on your own”. Indeed, the black man is on his own and it is up to him to emancipate himself from economic slavery coz none but ourselves can free ourselves. Our motherland, the Promised Land is overflowing with cobalt, gold and diamonds. Who will lead the children to the Promised Land like Moses leading the Israelites out of political and economical slavery in Egypt?
thegatvolblogger 