At the same time, I am becoming increasingly outraged by some political personalities who have blatantly profited personally because of their association with the struggle, who have used their positions to do all sorts of shady business deals with perks and government contracts to enrich themselves while the masses of the people see little improvement in their lives.
There is no shortage of documentation by media organizations, courts and government commissions who have probed dodgey arms deals, empowerment deals in name only, nepotism, kickbacks and worse. South Africa's ANC is in danger of losing the moral high ground that made it so special for so many years. I remember interviewing the late ANC leader Joe Slovo, on the eve of Nelson Mandela's election for my film Countdown to Freedom. He expressed his fears that corruption in what he called "the flesh pots" could forever damage the struggle.
How can South Africa criticize corruption in other African states if it tolerates it so widely at home?
Do we who acted in solidarity with South Africa for so long have no right to demand some solidarity from former leaders who seem to have cast their principles aside? Of course we do.
Do non-South Africans in the US and Europe have a right to raise these questions. I believe we must!
I still read the South African press and get disgusted by all the scandals implicating leading politicians and ANC leaders who in the process of selling in seem to have sold out.
It is not for me to pass judgment on anyone, especially from a distance of l0,000 miles. I don't have any standing to get involved in their political battles nor do I want to. But, that doesn't mean I should just shake my head and stay silent.
True, my life wasn't on the line the way many of theirs were. I wasn't in prison or brutalized. My sacrifices were minimal. But that's still no excuse for some to help themselves to high salaries, profits, cars and benefits all in the name of black empowerment and the liberation movement. This generate resentment and disaffection. It is seen as hypocrisy.
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