Editorial
Johannesburg – We should never ever scorn legitimate attempts to broker real and sustainable peace to conflicts, especially the one in the Ukraine that is unfolding in real time on our smartphones, laptops and TVs, but there is something incredibly galling about the stance of our government.
From initially being so resolute about sitting on this fence that our Cabinet almost got splinters in its collective posterior, there have been suggestions that we might now have to endure the prospect of that same government offering to mediate in what could potentially be the flashpoint to a third World War.
If it does make that offer, this would be galling because this is the same government that could not mediate in the internecine war between taxi operators and Uber drivers. It certainly did nothing during successive waves of vicious xenophobia – perpetrated by its own people on innocent foreigners living peaceably within its borders.
But the greatest irony of all is that it could not even protect a single shopping mall or a power pylon during the July insurrection last year – instead, to its ultimate shame and the undying credit of the people of this country, it was the ordinary citizens who stood fast against the unprecedented wave of lawlessness as the police powerlessly looked on.
All we need is for our government to stand in solidarity with the world and unequivocally condemn the Russian aggression for what it is. Nothing more and nothing less. We are grateful, after a false start, that someone in government saw the light and did just that.
But anything more? It’s time our government stuck to its knitting and actually fixed problems here at home. Quite frankly, we don’t have the moral gravitas – and certainly not the international respect – that we had in the days of Nelson Mandela.
To pretend otherwise, is not just delusional, it’s actually perverse.
The Saturday Star
