Opinionista
Sipho Hlongwane
Where have all the good men gone?

The murder of white supremacist, cruel taskmaster and questionable equestrian Eugene Terre'blanche, and the word-joust that will inevitably follow, gives us a unique opportunity to have a frank talk about the state of South Africa. To say things have been difficult of late would be an understatement. A session on the couch would do this country good.

We saw a truly unedifying spectacle on Saturday night – journalists falling over each other to drape the murder of Eugene Terre'blanche around Julius Malema's neck. We're all obviously gatvol of Malema's onanistic bluster, and would like nothing more than to see someone bring him down a notch or three, preferably with the judicious application of sjambok to behind, but the truth is that in order for us to accomplish that, we have to lower ourselves to his level of thinking.

Let's rally the evidence: Julius Malema wasn't the first to sing Ayesaba Amagwala (a.k.a. Shoot the Boer). There is currently no evidence to suggest that singing the song has any relation to farm murders. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to prove that farm attacks are motivated by racial motives, rather than what almost all other crimes are about - money. Eugene Terre'blanche has a history of mistreating his workers, not to mention his racism. It was too easy, too convenient, too sensationalist - and almost every news article that reported the incident made the connection between Terre'blanche's death and Shoot the Boer.

This isn't to say that Malema should sing Shoot the Boer.

The issue, however, is how we arrived at a point where our national discourse is directed by the Malemas and Terre'blanches of this world. Why are these two men, who are really two sides of the same ugly coin, dragging  the entire country down the path of ever-greater polarisation? More importantly, why are they being allowed to?

Is the ANC election conference at Polokwane to blame? Jacob Zuma emerged victorious, but his success was largely due to the fact that the party wanted to eject Thabo Mbeki, and quickly. Zuma inherited a divided ANC, and somehow they've managed to keep the cracks papered over. Until now. The post-Polokwane ANC has been characterised by lackadaisical leadership, tripartite allies circling each other warily, the ugliest forms of greed and belligerent populism. Our ruling party has been anything but unified.

There is also the fact that there is no visible moral leadership within the tripartite alliance. Not a single one of the alliance's top leaders can take the populists on, because they're all tainted. Jacob Zuma has been since the arms deal days. Kgalema Motlanthe can't pipe up either, not with the small matter of a certain Iraqi oil deal hanging over his head. Gwede Mantashe defended the ANC's interest in Hitachi, the company that's going to build a bunch of new power stations, amid howls of fury from opposition parties and the public. Given his job description, he isn't really suited to the task. With no decisive moral leadership to take the middle ground, people naturally gravitate toward the extremists.

Maybe it's just the case of the ANC being lead by a weak populist. Would we even have this conversation had Eugene Terre'blanche died while Mbeki was still president?

Or is the problem us? You have to wonder why Malema finds it so easy to pull society hither and thither, why we are so easy to manipulate. I maintain that beneath all the Rainbow Nation fluff, South Africa is still a deeply divided country. Those divides, and the fact that we're in such denial, play right into Malema's hands.

This Terre'blanche thing will eventually pass over. We will all be worse off after the AWB, Malema, the ANC, Afriforum and everyone else has had a go on the podium. Thank goodness we have the World Cup to look forward to ...

It is high time we all took a moment to extract our collective heads out of our bottoms. We're so worried about Malema's words. “He's destroying this country,” we moan. “He's undoing Mandela's legacy!” Well, we're letting him! Where are the voices of moderation? Where are the people preaching reconciliation and nation-building? We can't rely on Nelson Mandela or Desmond Tutu anymore. They won't be around forever. When our children ask us in the future what we did to save South Africa, will we say, “Well, I wrote a bunch of angry comments in an article about Julius Malema. And then when things really got bad, I wrote to the editor.” That's just not good enough.

The 18th century Irish statesman, Edmund Burke, is famous for saying, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” We need to remind ourselves of that right now.

More by Sipho Hlongwane




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An excellent piece! Despite his numerous faults, I don't think that Mbeki would have let Malema get away with his rhetoric. I really wish that the media didn't give Malema the oxygen of publicity (of course, he hates the press but without it he would vanish). And it is curious that everyone has rushed to offer condolences to the Terre'blanche family.
Tom Wood on Mon, 5 Apr 2010 at 11:16
The start point of this article makes it very clear the writer has no focus on the genocide that has been committed against White farmers since the ANC reign began.Rather it seeks to villify Terreblanche and his views while inevitably excusing the barbaric behaviour of those who committed this deed. The Media may well be attempting to blame this act on Malema but there are many,many other South Africans out there who know that this is little more than a continuation of ANC Policy to oust Whites from the Country. You talk about "Kill the Boer" and who started it which is almost irrelevant.What is relevant is that Mandela was singing it along with Kasrils whilst he was President of South Africa,that Mbeki through his "legacy of apartheid" inflammatory speeches through to the current Zuma with his "Bring me my machine gun" have all inflamed racial hatred. Couple that with a majority population fed the lies of the ANC or terrorised into agreeing with them through the infamous "necklace" method and the Policy continues.Malema is but a mere pawn in a wider ANC plan and one suspects that he is expendable.Spiriting him up to Zimbabwe whilst the ANC carried out their plan is more than highly suspicious as is the so called perpetrators phoning the Police and awaiting their arrival.South Africa is on the road to destruction and despite the efforts of the liberal West it will get there.The World Cup? Looks like it will be an utter failure as the expected arrival of foreign football fans will not happen.You cannot behave normally in an abnormal Country and football fans have voted with their feet.The event was in any event only awarded to South Africa on the back of corruption between the ANC and Blatter and a little research will reveal that to you.
Look North my friend and understand South Africa is no different to all the other failed African States who who preceed you.
Archie Brown on Mon, 5 Apr 2010 at 13:09
Ah, conspiracy theorists. Where would we be without you lot?
Sipho Hlongwane on Mon, 5 Apr 2010 at 13:30
So then it would be a conspiracy to ascribe any value to Dr Klatzow's piece in the Cape Times? See http://www.scribd.com/doc/29489916/10-03-17-CapeTimes-SA-s-Meltdown-is-the-Inevitable-Result-of-ANC-policies for details. Fact is that Malema has been a smoke screen for the ANC's actions for some time now.

Chris Potgieter on Fri, 9 Apr 2010 at 15:42
What an utterly ridiculous comment. If there is genocide against white farmers then why are black people being killed on farms too?
Simon Williamson on Mon, 5 Apr 2010 at 20:43
Look up the definition of the word genocide instead of trying to justify your position with the death of a Blacks.It is a fact that Farmers are being disproportionately attacked on their farms compared to Blacks.Next you will be justifying Mugabe's farm invasions.
Archie Brown on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 12:09
Farting through your mouth only makes your breath smell.
Archie Brown on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 12:25
"Farting through your mouth only makes your breath smell."

Is that yet another reasonable assumption, Archie?
Simon Williamson on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 16:14
In your case I would say its a fairly safe assumption.
Archie Brown on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 19:09
Sipho - this is one of the most honest writings I've read in a long time.

The issue of real leadership ('good men' as you refer to in article) isn't only applicable to the ANC though. However, conceding they are the ruling party, and by extension this question is more pertinent.

Still, amongst all cultures (I am an afrikaner) real, morally-sound, leadership is absent as far as public perceptions go.

Indeed, there are many 'good men' within our local community structures. But their influence limited.

Yet, we all know that leaders are products of the organizations they serve. And as it stands, only 2 organizations in my mind have real influence on our nation as a whole - the ANC and COSATU.

Thus, in my mind, the 'good men' to lead our country in future will come from these 2 organizations.

Mr. Vavi I (want to) believe is one of those 'good men'. His wive's recent exploitations not withstanding.

Hopefully, they too will ascribe to your plight. As far as the current status quo for leaders within the ANC particular goes, somewhere along the line they have lost focus on what a post-apartheid vision for this country should be.

In the film "Lions for Lambs" - Robert Redford, playing an academic, appeals to one of his students in referring to the 'escapism' and 'apathy' that is offered by a misinterpreted idealogical vision of America (i.e. land of opportunities) -- "Rome is burning, son!", he pleads.

I cannot shake this feeling, that through the 'escapism' offered by the ideology of a Rainbow Nation, we too are allowing our 'Rome' to burn...
Louis J v Rensburg on Mon, 5 Apr 2010 at 14:53
The question still remains, what is it that good men can do? Between earning our honest wages and battling the multitude of service delivery failings of our govt, Louis, correctly points out our lack of good men in leadership positions is the real crises here. It is so difficult for the man in the street to make a difference. Doing our jobs is hard enough, let alone the jobs our leaders too.
Styli Charalambous on Mon, 5 Apr 2010 at 18:50
Conspiracy theorists? Is it beyond you to look at Youtube and see St Mandela singing "Kill the Boer." That aint no conspiracy. That is FACT. Is it also not fact that more than 300.000 people have been murdered since your beloved ANC was handed control of South Africa? Is it not true that more than 3000 Farmers have been murdered since 1994? Is it not true that South Africa mirrors every Country to its North?
Dont try to be a smartass with a silly comment.Rather look at the facts and bend your mind around reasonable assumptions.
Archie Brown on Mon, 5 Apr 2010 at 19:02
And your reasonable assumption was "genocide"?
Simon Williamson on Mon, 5 Apr 2010 at 20:44
White South Africans are at stage six of the eight stages of genocide according to Genocide Watch, an international organization that monitors genocide around the world. Genocide is a process leading to a conclusion

Archie Brown on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 14:22
Archie, you seem to think that the 300 000 people that have been killed since the end of apartheid are all middle class whites. I say this only because you are linking it with the so-called 'genocide' of white farmers. The one fact that calls into question the conspiratorial tone of your comment is that most people who are affected by crime are poor and black. And, yes, far too many farmers have been killed in this country. But then white farmers in Africa have always been killed (where are the statistics for how many farmers were killed before the end of apartheid?), ever since white people started expanding into Africa and seizing land from other people. This doesn't justify the killing of farmers or anyone else for that matter but it does point to the fact that murder in SA has little to do with political ideology. The monstrous people who kill farmers (or anyone else) are criminal opportunists and nothing more.
Tom Wood on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 10:57
Tom do a little more homework and you will find that statistically Whites are 5 times more likely to be victims of violent crime than Blacks.If that doesnt convince you then look at the Race of the perpetrators in 99% of the cases of violent crime.So you think the murder of Farmers is the work of criminal opportunists? Do you include Malema in that assumption? Quote from the Zimbabwe Mail on Malema's visit:
As The Zimbabwe Mail reported elsewhere, South Africa’s ruling party, ANC is said to be planning Zimbabwean style land invasions after the FIFA 2010 World Cup, with the assistance of Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF and War Veterans Association.
On Monday last week, a member of the Zanu PF security department told our reporter that Malema’s visit to Harare was a follow up to a secret high-level discussion between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma.
Robert Mugabe has already convinced Zuma and promised him an unwavering support in the South African land reform and indigenisation process.
Be afraid.Very afraid.
Archie Brown on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 12:15
Archie, using the race of perpetrators to work out who their victims are ("Whites are 5 times more likely to be victims of violent crime than Blacks.If that doesnt convince you then look at the Race of the perpetrators") relies on the assumption that crime is created by black people against white people, which is an incredibly simplistic and incorrect" manner of looking at the situation.

It sounds as if the homework you have done has involved copious copies of the The Citizen and Die Burgher.
Simon Williamson on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 16:27
Well these are stats that are based on the "official" Crime rates provided by the ANC. But nevertheless instead of carping on like some or other know it all lets see a post from you that has some " earth" in it instead of posting like a parasitic sycophant.
Archie Brown on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 19:12
No Archie, I think you're making that up. If these were official government stats you would have said so initially, to convince people - instead, the only source you cite in that whole comment is the Zimbabwe Mail relating to something else.

Because only people like you are going to believe your made-up stats, you decide that what will REALLY convince us is that many of the perpetrators are black. This is what you told us INSTEAD of saying that they were official statistics.

Which do you think is more believable, Archie? Which?

Can you see now why I think YOU are the one "farting out your mouth"?
Simon Williamson on Wed, 7 Apr 2010 at 08:24
Archie, thanks for exhorting me to do my 'homework'. One assumes that the 'homework' that you have done includes finding credible evidence that conclusively points towards Mugabe convincing Zuma that Zimbabwe-style land invasions are the ay forward? Is this just right-wing conjecture? Or is there something more substantial to back up these claims.
Tom Wood on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 23:34
Two notable things about this piece, offered by an opinionista, and entitled something or other about good men:

1. All this talk of "good men", but no reference to good women anywhere. What? Does South Africa not have any good leaders who happen also to be female? From your article and the comments, one would think it is so. Well, gentlemen young and old, I think the first head out of a bottom should be your own.

2. The list of opinionistas at TDM is an all-male affair.

What gives TDM? And where is the analysis of this event in Ventersdorp from anything but a gender-blind perspective?
Kerry Ryan on Mon, 5 Apr 2010 at 20:46
I think when we refer to "good men" we are paraphrasing Edmund Burke's quote, rather than only referring to men. When we say we do not have the good men to lead, we include the fact we do not have good women to lead us either. Leadership is not a strictly male affair. And whether an opinion is stated by male or female should carry no consequence, it's what is said that counts.
Styli Charalambous on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 10:17
The point, Styli, is that there is another way to read this murder than looking at it as a politically motivated, racially motivated murder. It can be read as a class act. As a gendered act. As a psychonanalytic act. But, no, the default mode of interpretation offered by the writers in the popular media is race. Race. Race. Race. And very few people are questioning it. And where does it get us? Exactly nowhere but into a deeper racial morass out of which it is difficult to emerge. Time for alternative views to be expressed in the media. But, go ahead, you and Vida can attack me and my request for an alternative viewpoint. Attack is all we seem to do in this post-apartheid social space.
Kerry Ryan on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 14:00
@Kerry Ryan,

Actually, Styli has it right.

We can’t ignore the race angle. It is writ large in this story, and in the story of South Africa. Money and power are bound to the issue of race in this country. Are you forgetting how apartheid worked?

I still don’t see where gender comes into this. Please enlighten me.
Sipho Hlongwane on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 14:51
What ET's murder has shown - among the thousands of other inherent nettle-rash reactions, weaknesses and failings in the ANC kleptocracy - is how fixated the South African media have allowed themselves to become with superficial telephone-&-press-release journalism and majoritarianism (well, I suppose that's inevitable with a fundamentally flawed electoral system). That is why the hundreds of minorities are simply not understood from the comfy executive chairs in Sandton and Cape Town. That's also why 99% of coverage of 15 years of fear, frustration and anger among farmers and virtually the entire platteland is beyond the comprehension of the media who know two things about the AWB - neither of which is more recent than FIVE years old. Reading the so-called news this weekend has been like browsing a very old copy of Reader's Digest in the dentist's waiting room.

Secondly it's showed the extent of the disintegration of South Africa. There are more divisions and sub-divisions than listed in Richard Dawkins' "The Ancestor's Tale". It's the saving grace for us at this time because the country is such a divided and splintered archipelago of remote islands that a race war is physically impossible. Isolated Chechen widow incidents aside. It also shows the utter incompetence of the tripartite konka chatshop - fractious, moribund, self-centred, dispassionate, directionless and anachronistic. Not to mention lacking any semblance of courageous and imaginative responses to the challenges of our times.

Sipho's right - the good men (and women) have gone, and SA is left with this woeful kakistocracy of intellectual trolley-pushers. And the fact that no-one - certainly neither Sipho nor I - has the foggiest idea what to do lets Nero from Nkandla indulge in panem et circenses. That is if he can hang on for another 60-odd days for the necessary distraction ... and if more than a couple of planeloads of fans bother coming at all.

Thanks for making us so blithe and bonny and good and gay.


Llewellyn Kriel on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 07:37
Good article - we have lost the underlying value system of ubuntu/samehorigheid/tolerance in our society.

The mere fact that we cannot produce a higher level of political discourse (or leaders) than what we are currently hearing/seeing, is an indictment on us - the silent majority - for not standing up and demanding better from our political leaders.
Quinton van Eeden on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 09:32
@Kerry Ryan - quite frankly I believe your gender politics is rather uncalled for right now. First let us agitate for a country in which respect is part of the moral fibre of every citizen. A country in which every human being can rest assured that whatever happens on any given day, violence will not be part of it.

Shame on you for missing the bigger picture...
Vida Opperman on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 09:55
Actually, Vida, I have a right to my opinion, and my opinion is informed by the fact that violence is perpetrated overwhelmingly by men. The facts of this case are that only men (2 old, 1 young) were involved in this sordid little murder, with implications for us all. And only men are writing for TDM. And until South Africa addresses the idea that masculinity in this country is a problem, then disputes over wages will continue to be solved with pangas and knobkerries. But you go right ahead and bang that drum of gender neutrality.
Kerry Ryan on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 13:54
Kerry, you do have a right to your opinion, that is and was never in dispute. I just feel you are missing the bigger picture of what this 'sordid little murder' means in the greater context of South African history and politics. And considering the serious consequences for us as a nation if this situation is not carefully handled, it seems to me you are being trivial for bringing up the lack of female writers in the TDM stable in this instance.

And I realize that it is not your only argument, but I am failing to see what the gist of the rest of your argument is. Men are generally more violent than women, just like they are physically stronger than women, that is a fact of nature. No amount of beating on whatever drum is going to change that, so imho we, as a society marred by violence and rash hotheadedness, need good 'men' to stand up and stay 'Ons is nie almal so nie'. And that is exactly what the writer conveyed in this piece.

Do you understand why I fail to see your argument??

As for the drum banging, I firmly believe that should you bang the drum of humanity first and loudest you will have no need to bang any other drums... not so?
Vida Opperman on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 18:25
"A session on the couch would do this country good"

Freudian sessions are 100% intended for the rich AND educated. Now that I think about it, it is darn good nobody articulated what exactly it is that "the people" want. I'm afraid one would find a rather disturbing assortment of Monsters of ID there. Good luck.
Milos Udovicic on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 12:38
Great piece. The whole "Kill the Boer" thing would not have come to this if farm murders were taken seriously by the ANC. For years now the attitude or statement is that it is just criminality or whatever, and not very serious. The follow up investigations have largely been slapdash which makes the victims believe in the complicity of the state, and the perpetrators feel that they have little to fear.

Of the 3000 or so murders, how many have been brought to book? Less or more than the generally abysmal performance of SAPS? There certainly have not been a trials related to farm killings at the rate of 150/year we would expect if even 50% of the cases were solved. If the percentage of arrests is significantly lower than the norm, Afriforum has a point.

Certainly, in this case there seems to be a political statement as the perpetrators simply waited for SAPS to arrive. Will this case be solved? Given the apparent statistics maybe not.
Johan Kruger on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 at 13:51
I would dearly like to participate in open, non-threatened discussions about what is happening in South Africa. It frightens me to see how quickly any discussion degenerates into a name-calling, unproductive venting of emotions. The events of the past few months clearly show the serious problems in our society. The only way I know to deal with these issues is to discuss our history, what we have benefited and lost through that history, and to do it without defensiveness. Obviously racism is part of that discussion, as are gender issues. But if we are not open to what other people's experiences are (even if we don't share them), we lose whatever benefit we could have in those discussions.
Elaine Bing on Wed, 7 Apr 2010 at 06:04
Thanks for this article Sipho. Exactly, we all need to stand up and DO something. But what? Do we become politicians and try beat them at their own game? What DO we do? As a private citizen, I have no idea where to begin. Any suggestions?
Lynne Barry on Fri, 9 Apr 2010 at 12:06
Where have all the good men gone?
They are all outside RSA.
SJ Botha on Tue, 20 Dec 2011 at 17:06