AAARGH. This poor, poor country of ours.

A few days ago, Ntsiki Mazwai wrote an open letter, addressed to all white South Africans, questioning the concept and understanding of Heritage Day. Take a minute to read it.

“Owing to this concept of Braai Day, I am forced to have this honest and somewhat uncomfortable conversation with you. I had hoped that since you have grown white people, they would teach you better…but they have not.

Let’s start at the beginning……my dear white people, you are not descendants of this land called Afrika. Afrika has its own children that it has birthed and nurtures.
It is written in the history books (which your people wrote) that you came from Holland, France, Britain, Spain…..all these are European countries.
The moral of the story is….You are descendants of Europe.
You are the children of Elizabeth, Hitler, Bismarck and others that built their legacy on stealing lands and making people slaves.
Indeed this is not necessarily a history one would be proud of, but it is what it is, and you are now in a position to ‘Do Right.’

There are certain behaviours which provoke the hell out of Africans…..most of these issues are centred around your SELF importance. What is it about you white people that makes you think that your thoughts, ideas and existence is more important than other races?
This confuses me because you did not build your own empires, we built them for you.
You did not raise you own children, we did that for you.
You did not stand up when the injustices of Apartheid were happening, we stood up for ourselves.
The white liberals are now going to be up in arms, but in all honesty, white liberals did not have to carry Dompasses, they could go wherever they pleased and the very same white liberals benefitted from white privilege. So tell me, ‘How do you know someone’s struggle…..when you have never struggled?’ GFOH
You have been on this land for over 500 years and yet have been too damn arrogant to learn the language. In school, you make your children take subjects like French and German….How is French and German going to help you communicate with the majority black people of this land? My people can speak your European language and they don’t even live in Europe….you live in Afrika and you don’t know the language? With all due respect but that is Dumb as F***

When you white people speak to a group of black people why do you speak ‘stupid’ English? That thing where you talk down to black workers makes you look stupid.

I don’t know if its ignorance, arrogance or a desire to be asked to go back to your lands which makes you disrespect our Heritage Day by calling it Braai day…but I can promise you that this concept is extremely provocative and may I remind you that you are in the minority.

This racist concept of yours where you want us to erase our heritage will quickly lead to a ‘Zimbabwe’ situation……yes you know that situation where white people got chased off the land? Yes….THAT situation.

Even in your own homes, if a guest had to disrespect how you do things in YOUR own house…you would ask them to leave.

My dear white South Africans, my generation is not the apartheid generation. We do not have a psychological fear of white people. We were born in a time where we CHOSE to forgive you…don’t abuse our humility.

Heritage day is a day where we celebrate the story of South Africa, the story of its people, cultures and traditions. It is a day where we celebrate African kings and queens who have ruled us and have given birth to our nations. It is a day where the African child hears their own story. The other 365 days of the year we are heavily inundated in white culture……24 September is the ONE day where we can be proudly black.

How dare you downgrade a day of African Pride to Beers and a braai………

NISIQHELA KAKUBI…….

We get it though……we get why you would rather have a beer and a braai than celebrate the military genius that King Shaka Zulu was….

It’s just that…when in AFRIKA…you do as the AFRIKANS.

Qha ke

Kind Regards
Your rainbow nations counterparts”

Of course, someone had to publicly respond to this public letter. Paul Juby took it upon himself to reply, and here it is.

“Dear Ntsiki

I have read your post and given it much consideration. I should perhaps start by saying that I am a white male who was born and raised in Durban. My heritage is non-Afrikaans, but I am not sure that that makes me ‘English’. I am however English speaking. There are a few issues raised that I would like to share my view on.

It is true that that I am of European descent. My ancestors (mostly in 1820) arrived in South Africa and committed atrocities against black people; enslavement, human rights abuses, etc. I was born in the early 1990’s into a privileged life. I will never be able to understand fully what the people of this country went through, the oppression and the humiliation. You will always have my sympathies for what happened.

I would like to talk about identity. I believe that I am African. I might not be black by my family has lived here for 200 years. I have been to Europe and certainly do not consider myself European. African identity is not a matter of race, it’s a matter of culture.  I am a South African because my culture exists nowhere else. It is what makes me who I am. It is my home.

Some of your arguments are based on scale, time and space to be exact. Before my ancestors lived in Europe they came from Africa, yes, the cradle of humankind. Before Zulu and Xhosa people arrived in South Africa they had pushed down from central Africa as part of the Bantu expansion, only a few hundred years ago. If coming from Holland/France/Spain makes me European because of the dispersal of my ancestors then coming from central Africa (assuming you are Zulu/Xhosa or Bantu for arguments sake) makes you a central African, perhaps Congolese? But ultimately Homo sapiens evolved in Africa. We are all African children. Ultimately, my point is where we came from and when we came from is irrelevant. I could go on endlessly with such arguments. We are South African as our culture exists nowhere else.

I have traveled around southern Africa where I have learned from different cultures. I have learned the importance of respecting my elders, very broken Zulu, how to shake somebodies hand respectfully and how to give and receive to name a few. I agree with you that not enough white people have learned indigenous languages. When I was in school I learned Afrikaans and Zulu. Again, do not be so quick to chastise French and German, did you know that Africa is actually the number one French speaking continent on the planet? When you learn another language you learn another culture and that promotes tolerance. I agree that this is important and as a nation we should focus on this more.

My understanding of Heritage Day is to celebrate what makes us uniquely South African. Not what makes us black (unless of course you are black). If I choose to have a braai because that is how my family has cooked for 200 years then what is wrong with that? If you prefer to do something different I have no objections. I should be allowed to celebrate my heritage and express what it means for me to be South African. I believe that is the essence of Heritage Day.

Even King Shaka is now hailed as a military genius but, if I am correct, invented the stabbing spear (‘iklwa’) and expanded the Zulu empire in a very similar fashion to that of the Europeans in Africa. By expanding, killing and conquering only to unify later. I mean no disrespect but he essentially revolutionized warfare at the time through his ingenuity and leadership. The main difference was that his expansion was smaller, an issue of scale. But now, King Shaka is regarded as a South African hero and we all learned about him while we were in school. Perhaps our history books are different but they share similar patterns. My point is we are really not so different and I do have respect for King Shaka as he is part of my own South African identity.

Rather than castigate white people, Heritage Day should be an opportunity for the sharing of cultures. We should not be separated with white people braaing and black people celebrating the Kings and Queens from the past as you put it. Your message offers no constructive criticisms or anything. You make me feel that because my heritage is different to yours that I am incorrect. That is incorrect and unfair.

Rather than point fingers we should be moving towards a society where views such as these are expressed without so much underlying resentment. By pointing the finger at white people for calling it ‘Braai Day’ you insult them because you are targeting their heritage. Trust me, when you insult somebodies culture that will never go down well…”

You can read the rest of Paul’s reply on News24