What you, the reader, have to say about the world at large: Letters to the Editor

IOL News

17-06-2025

Rise up young people for you are our future
In a post-match interview after the test match triumph national cricket captain Temba Bavuma remarked that he is more than a black cricketer.
To be recognised as more than a black cricketer is special.
Temba Bavuma you are enough.
Temba Bavuma you are beyond peoples imaginations and inferiority complexes.
Temba Bavuma you are a special human being.
The national youth commission act of 1996 defines young people in South Africa between the ages of 14 and 35.
The youth of 1976 had to struggle and sacrifice for their rights and privileges. We honour their legacy, tenacity and vision. The right and dignity to learn in any language should forever be a platform for destiny and not a platform of destruction.
History portrays the 1976 youth protesting for equality and freedom.
As a young person Temba Bavuma had to similarly protest through his cricket ability for the God given right to shine. Despite the trappings and limitations bestowed upon him directly and indirectly by society and the racial legacy of apartheid, Bavuma stood tall with hope arising evermore.
The truth, however, is that their are many Temba Bavuma's still fighting, protesting quietly waiting, working, dreaming for their moment.
Let us not be the barriers that limits the potential of young people who are more than ready to shine under the African sun. History cannot repeat itself.
The youth of 1976 fought for better.
The youth of 1976 died so that freedom can not only be imagined but lived.
Let us not be the gatekeepers of people's dreams and ideals, let us give young people especially an opportunity to rise up beyond our fears. The future and best of South Africa is here and lives amongst us.
Young people we acknowledge you, we recognise you, we see you.
Young people you are our champions. Rise up and be counted. Hope is rising! | Steven John Bam Southfield
All talk and no action makes him a dull man
Last Tuesday, the president unveiled a grand plan to rescue South Africa: A national dialogue with all role players to discuss the country's crisis and find solutions.
A convention kicks off on August 15, led by 31 eminent figures from across society. It won't end there – the process will continue beyond the opening event. While some welcomed the Indaba, others were sceptical.
The EFF dismissed it as another elite gathering. Analyst Siyabonga Ntombela called it more lip service – just talk to cover up the failings of a corrupt, inept, government.
South Africa has been full of talk for decades – commissions, inquiries, conferences, committees. What came of the R1-billion Zondo Commission? Were any big fish jailed? Thousands of hours wasted in meetings. Now this 'dialogue' is budgeted at R700 million. After endless speeches and banquets, delegates will retreat to their mansions and chauffeurs – while the poor freeze in shacks. Will this change their lives? You're dreaming. Ramaphosa knows full well what's wrong – anyone on the street can tell him: ANC politics.
He already has the tools to govern. What has his bloated GNU cabinet achieved? Ministers enjoy banquets and joy rides on the taxpayer's back – R202m in travel and accommodation since July. Deputy President Paul Mashatile alone spent millions on trips with his wife. The government may be ineffective, but it excels at making millionaires: 55 000 state employees have hit that mark. It echoes the royalty before the French Revolution.
Ramaphosa lacks the courage, will and determination to fix the mess. The dialogue is a deflection. Forced into coalition, he now wants to look inclusive. But this is just another ploy – all talk, no action. | T Markandan Kloof
Disappearance by design or death?
It is my firm belief that Markus Jooste, former CEO of Steinhoff, never committed suicide.
The alleged gunshot death on March 21, 2024 – just a day before his arrest warrant – was likely a calculated vanishing act, aided by corrupt police and complicit politicians.
Recent revelations reported by the Daily News support this view: no post-­mortem, no morgue number, and no evidence of the weapon used. Jooste, fined R475 million by the FSCA for looting state pension funds, simply disappeared.
This echoes the mysterious death of Gavin Watson, CEO of Bosasa, who allegedly died in a car crash in 2019. His demise was steeped in doubt – a private pathologist even suggested he died before the accident. Jacob Zuma, speaking at the funeral, hinted at assassination. Watson was deeply entangled in state capture, securing R12 billion in tenders and funding ANC campaigns.
Another example: Thabo Bester, the convicted murderer and rapist, who faked his own death in a prison fire and fled the country in 2022. He was later recaptured in Tanzania.
And Brett Kebble, the mining magnate fatally shot in 2005 – seven bullets, but an 'assisted suicide.' Investigations revealed he orchestrated his own killing to escape financial collapse and criminal exposure.
A disturbing pattern emerges: powerful, politically connected figures facing justice, who conveniently die, or vanish, under suspicious circumstances. These men lived by greed, corruption, and the pursuit of influence.
As a nation, we must commit to the truth. For now, speculation thrives and fuels a growing public mistrust. Whether these were genuine deaths or choreographed disappearances, the signs are clear: South Africa's elite may be escaping justice – again. | Kevin Govender Umhlatuzana
Israel doesn't give two hoots about peace
Israel's unprovoked military assault on Iran, a sovereign country, violates international law and is a shameless act of imperialist violence that needs to be unequivocally condemned.
African countries, Asian countries and Middle Eastern countries need to take a lesson from apartheid Israel's 'self-defence' and 'pre-emptive strike'.
Most Western countries, including Israel, are not interested in negotiations and peaceful co-existence. Why will the US support a strike on Iran and at the same time coerce Iran to the negotiating table.
China, North Korea, Russia are viewed as major hurdles to the goals of US imperialists around the globe, especially in the Middle East and its Arabian Gulf. The vast amount of oil and gas resources in that region and the important waterway for global trade is of significant geopolitical interest to the imperialist countries.
Hence, Iran, a key ally to both Russia and China, needs to be tamed in order for America and its imperialist allies to achieve their objectives.
It is time that the ordinary people in the Middle East to rise up against their regimes and bring about a life of dignity for all. The occupation of Palestine must end, the genocide in Gaza and these imperialists wars must be stopped.
While the world is focused on Iran, the criminal and inhuman conditions of the lived realities in Gaza must not be forgotten. | MOHAMED SAEED Pietermaritzburg
If DA is pro LGBTQ, why support them?
In a recent letter by a DA MPL, his cries for support of this controversial initiative hints at how desperately the LGBTQ community wants to be seen as a normal facet of society, when, in reality, it's a very unusual group of people trying to act normal.
Personally, I cannot accept it when, during these LGBTQ rallies, all sorts of sexual acts are performed and unusual behaviour of humans are tolerated for the sake of sympathising with these groups of people.
One has to remember that our children are always watching, learning and taking it in and processing it as normal, when, in most homes, they are taught that there are only two genders. If anything, these highly offensive, in-your-face rallies cause more harm than raise awareness of so-called 'diversity and inclusion'.
We have to be so careful what we put on display for our youth to witness and take away from such experiences. I won't encourage anyone who believes in biblical values to attend the June 28 march.
That we are a predominantly Christian nation, should make us wonder if the DA still deserves our support, given it's ties with the LGBTQ agenda, as well as it's involvement with the World Economic Forum.
How can we, as believers of Jesus the Christ, accept these atrocities? I call it an atrocity because the impact it is having on our youngsters is devastating and it only creates confusion and opens doors to unusual human behaviour.
Regarding the DA's tolerance of Klaus Schwab's Orwellian tendencies and totalitarian tactics, I can only assume that we are in for a completely digitised future where everything we do will be under surveillance and we will literally be put in a digital cage, forfeiting most of our freedoms for an assumed 'more efficient home affairs'.
I'd like to challenge the DA leadership to refocus and realign itself with the values that we as South Africans expect from a government who regard biblical principles very highly, or have we now sacrificed these principles at the altar of 'diversity and inclusion' to garner more support and pretend that we care about everyone and want to please every soul?
Wake up DA. | L Oosthuizen Durban
Keyboard politicos deserve no respect
As we are fast approaching the 2026 Local Government Elections, we will see more people jumping political ships for their own selfish gains.
Most political parties abandon their own hard-working activists and parachute careerists into positions of power, but these overnight keyboard politicians have no people's interests at heart but to advance their own personal interests Parties have attracted opportunists and careerists who would never have had the courage and devotion to principles and values that were required during the worst times.
Though servant leadership requires members of the highest calibre, today's politics attract people who are contemptuous of all notions of patriotism and serving the people, who are driven by a value system characterised by the pursuit of personal wealth at all costs.
They join with great ease that procedures permit with the sole aim of furthering their personal careers and using their access to state power to enrich themselves. Many see their membership as a means to advance their personal ambitions, to attain positions of power and access to resources for their own individual gratification
.We have an inescapable responsibility to attend to these matters frankly and decisively, one of these negative features is the emergence of careerism in politics. | Thulani Dasa Khayelitsha
DAILY NEWS