The outcry by critics regarding the banning of violent protests from being televised by the SABC is a vital point to ponder.
While the banning could be construed as protecting ANC campaigning interests, on the flip side a counter argument could also infer racism and so on. Example, 99% of violent protest usually depicts black Africans acting in a mostly barbaric and savage manner. When, where and how often have we seen White or Brown people stoning the police or burning libraries, schools and civic centre’s etc?
Since the going-ons in parliament set the proverbial scene, watching black people degrade and physically fight in the revered chambers of parliament has already been televised globally.
Allowing the world to witness the regular burning of schools, universities and libraries gives the impression that there is little value in building progressive, modern and costly institutions as a few blacks will in due time will burn them. Thus when black kids are taught under trees in rural areas few White and Brown people in metro areas bother to protest in any meaningful manner.
Ironically this educational inferiority is what Verwoerd and his political progeny argued for decades.
Also when people in Limpopo burn down 25 schools then township dwellers in Kwazulu/Natal may believe that it is acceptable as the Limpopo community immediately received new mobile schools. Thus they will also, for some or other reason, burn down a library while demanding a civic centre.
Minority communities (Indians, Whites, and Brown people) who live in the metro suburbs far from the rural non-delivery witness the damage. Many talks among each other and sub-consciously they question if there is value in replacing ruined state facilities destroyed by rural and township folk.
Ironically though it may be a generalization, Brown thieves tend to steal a facility piece by piece and then sell the material. While vandalism is intolerable, at least the Brown thief benefits from his crime.
The point is, perhaps it is better for nation building and so on that excess black vandalism is kept off the front pages and relegated to the middle pages thus demanding less attention. As blacks are the vast majority of South Africa and the poorest, logic infers that they would be the majority of felons.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, can we image the impact of regular television coverage highlighting the reality of black Africans rampaging through the streets burning state buildings etc?
This is how the Arab Spring started and witness what happened there. Very large parts of Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya have been destroyed and millions of people left homeless and many murdered.
Europe and Britian continues to reject helpless and genuine asylum seekers, the same people whom they encouraged to fight the oppressor Saddam Hoosain, Muammer Qaddaffi and Bashar Al Assad.
In retrospect it could be argued that Syrians were better-off under Bashar Al Assad instead of drowning in the Mediterranean. Libyans had a nation instead of tribal fiefdoms and Iraq under Saddam Hoosain could feed each and every citizen. Today Islamic State is terrorising everyone including its original backers the USA and its European allies.
Though Jacob Zuma may not be my choice for President, I will much rather keep this deeply flawed person than take chances with the choice of the ill-disciplined mobs burning universities and libraries.
Keep the felons and anarchist off the television and may the cards fall where they must this election.
Cllr Yagyah Adams
Cape Muslim Congress