Minister of Tourism Lindiwe Sisulu shook the political landscape with a fiery open letter addressing South Africa’s scuppered land reform project.
Lindiwe Sisulu quotes: Highlights of her land reform open letter
In her scathing letter, Sisulu departs into nuanced themes of South Africa’s colonial history, basing the flailing state of the country’s socio-economic standing on the rule of law which, in her opinion, has since “took on a new lofty meaning.”
“If we look around, we see a sea of African poverty.”
At the base of South Africa’s problems with inequality, Sisulu writes, is the inaction taken by political leaders and prominent African lawmakers, judges too, to promote indigenous laws.
In the minister’s view, Roman Dutch law of property should not triumph “African value systems and customs of land, wealth and property.”
In essence, she continues, notes of colonial control can be found in the Republic of South Africa. After all, the minority controls 80% of the land and its resources, while “80% of the majority in the country control less than 10% of the market capitalisation at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.”
“Meanwhile our black politicians have become black assets for colonised capital. And that capital keeps knocking at their doors for them to facilitate economic returns to multiply their investments.”
Did Sisulu indirectly address Cyril Ramaphosa?
For the most part, Sisulu’s gripe with the rule of law is in its application on the subject of land reform. She asserts that Africans were robbed of their birthright using colonial laws designed to oppress a particular race, and the pillaging has continued in South Africa’s democratic dispensation.
Who’s at fault?
Sisulu hints at ‘mentally colonised’ African lawmakers and judges, as well as wealthy liberators, as the root cause of overall inequality.
In the open letter, she quotes Carter Woodson’s words from the famous book The Miseducation of the Negro, where he breaks down the psychological impact of white supremacy, in lambasting prominent African leaders in positions of power who “keep the masses quiet in their sufferance while they dine caviar with colonised capital.”
“If you control a man’s thinking you don’t have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him to stand here or go yonder, he will find his proper place. You do not need to send him to the back door, he will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit.”
Carter Woodson, The Miseducation of the Negro
Sisulu, a high-level member of the ruling ANC, admits ‘stomach politics’ are a common practice.
“After dinner many things take place under the table and around the table… The politicians take care of themselves and their families, while those who put them there go to bed hungry, waiting for crumbs from the table.”
Drawing inspiration from the ‘WMC’ movement, Sisulu questions wealthy liberators who, only 27 years ago, “struggled to put petrol in their cars.”
“What else explains the sudden astronomical wealth of so-called “liberators” over such a short period of time? How did some become multimillionaires and billionaires overnight while a third of their fellow citizens languish on social grants? It takes several years for families and businesses to earn the status of multimillionaires or billionaires, after real hard work and value creation. But like Mzansi magic we have some socialism-spouting “liberators” draped in flags, transformed and co-opted into the capitalist class and leafy suburbs.”
While this could be observed as an indirect stab at current office holders in the Executive and Judiciary, it is not explicitly stated. According to News24, Sisulu’s office has insisted that the open letter does not address anyone in particular.
Some would beg to differ.
Read Sisulu’s open letter in full.
