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R/£ Attending Botha funeral an act of reconciliation
November 13, 2006 Edition 1
President Mbeki's presence at PW Botha's funeral is not controversial or unprincipled. Some time ago he attended the funeral of Chief Kaizer Daliwonga Matanzima, who loved apartheid far more than his masters, PW Botha, FW De Klerk and JB Vorster.
Maybe because Chief Matanzima was an African, there was not such a hullabaloo as there has been over his attendance at PW Botha's funeral.
There are three types of critic on this issue: there are genuine critics who unfortunately are not informed about the struggle objectives and ANC programmes on reconciliation.
Then there are those critics who criticise Thabo Mbeki daily.
The last group is the one which understands that the ANC needs to deepen reconciliation.
Our former deputy president Jacob Zuma attended the funeral of Prince Gideon Zulu, a lieutenant of Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi. No hullabaloo. The majority of the critics of the president's gesture did not read Thabo Mbeki's letter in ANC Today.
PW Botha was a vicious, cruel and staunch nationalist who died believing in the apartheid philosophy.
Mbeki dedicated 70% of his letter to a critique of the role of PW Botha in attempts to defend the apartheid policy.
He never equated PW Botha with Oliver Tambo.
The president stated that it was internal and external pressures on the apartheid regime which forced Botha to seek a solution.
But, Botha could not begin negotiations on his conditions, such as his demand that Mandela renounce the armed struggle and agree to stay in the Transkei.
Many of our people died during his presidency as well as that of FW de Klerk. We still remember the Boipatong massacre, the Bisho massacre, the killings in the East Rand, and Pietermaritzburg.
Does it mean Mandela and Mbeki should not attend the funeral of the president of that time?
To me PW Botha and FW De Klerk are two sides of the same coin; the difference is that FW realised that he had to cross the Rubicon.
A true revolutionary will not worry about those who have departed, but about the living.
Our task, despite all difficulties, is to reach out to all whites.
The ANC is a revolutionary movement and retribution is not our policy.
The president and his followers must do everything possible to win whites into a democracy.
The reality is that we have shifted many whites from the ideology PW Botha represented, but a lot still needs to be done.
Lastly the lowering of the flag and an offer of a state funeral is not Mbeki's initiative, it is part of our package at CODESA that the ANC and the apartheid forces agreed to. Ignorance and opportunism blame Mbeki for this obligation.
Siyanda Mhlongo
KwaDukuza
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